The Other
by Dreamingfox
Summary: Neville and company continue to search for clues but get derailed. What do you expect from 11 year old kids? This isn't your typical HP x Ranma x CCS crossover fic.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes –

Once again, I do not own either Harry Potter or Ranma ½. This is a work of fanfiction that combines elements of the two and borrows characters, ideas, and concepts in an attempt at something original (as much as fanfiction can be original).

For the handful of you who have read my only other attempt at a Ranma x Harry Potter fic, this is a companion piece to it. I was going to do this as part of the other story, but decided that it needed its own stage. Please read and review.

*****

The light evening haze filled the street as dozens of pedestrians walked on either side of the street. Though many took note of those around them or that they passed as, few actually cared about the people as they focused on their treats or on the costumes those around them wore.

Few would note the presence of the cloaked man or of his reptilian features. Even magical children celebrated Halloween after all. And the many costumed adults accompanying their children or their neighbor's children provided enough cover for the lone figure as he purposely made his way through the crowded street. Reaching the end of the street where the crowds thinned significantly the cloaked man hissed as he opened the gate to the yard of the last house on the cul-de-sac.

"Master," a rather rotund man in a bleach white skeleton mask called out.

"Silence Wormtail," the cloaked man hissed, his voice matching his reptilian features.

"The wards we set up should be sufficient to keep any prying ears from hearing anything we say," a second masked man said. Taller and leaner than the first, the second figure stood tall even as he bowed to the cloaked figure.

"Master," a woman called out, "we've secured the children."

A third man, this one much more stout in build than the second, and with a dark black beard beneath his half-skull mask nodded. "I'm not sure how, but Wormtail managed to secure the Potter child. It seems they placed too much faith in that charm of theirs. The Longbottoms were much less trusting."

The second masked man scowled. "My wretched 'cousin' thought she could trust me, but I owe nothing to her or her family. They are a stain on my family's honor."

"Enough!" the cloaked man said, hissing at his followers. "Where are the children?"

"Inside, master," the second man said as he opened the door to the tiny cottage. "Rabastan is watching over them."

"And the Longbottoms?" the cloaked man hissed.

"Incapacitated," the second man sneered. "Bella had a grand old time torturing Frank, but I wanted to break Alice myself."

"And so you shall," the cloaked man said, the smile evident in his voice, "so you shall."

Following his servant inside the cloaked man confidently strode through the dark kitchen, then the dining room, and finally to the living room where the last of his servants was still torturing the bound and defenseless wizard on the floor. It was clear that the woman that was bound was crying as she watched her husband being tortured, but no matter, she would be dealt with in time.

Two babies, one bundled tightly in a blanket and the other wearing just a simple one-piece outfit designed for a newborn, lay before him.

"Enough," he said, prompting his servant to cease the needless torturing of the captive Auror. "We need not waste any more time here. I'm sure the Potters have alerted Dumbledore and his precious Order already."

The masked figures bowed humbly.

"No!" the bound woman screamed.

"Quiet you wench!" the second masked man shouted as he backhanded the woman, drawing blood from her mouth and knocking her over, breaking the chair as she fell to the ground. "You and yours have soiled my family's honor long enough. It's time that we erase that stain."

"Enough Barty," the cloaked man said, silencing his servant. "Wormtail, I want you on watch. Let us know if anyone approaches."

"Y-yes master," the rotund man replied. Clearly the man was uneasy with the fact that he had betrayed one of his childhood friends. But at least he would be spared from having to witness his friend's son being murdered.

The bundled child wailed as the man left even as the other child rolled onto its stomach.

Smirking, the cloaked man drew his wand. "Avada Kadavra!"

"No!"

The bolt of sickly green light flew from the man's wand, only to connect with the woman as she threw herself before the two children.

"No!" the bound man shouted as he realized just what had happened. "Alice!"

A powerful kick to the face silenced him. "She deserved what she go," the man known as Barty said as he spit on the now unconscious man. "I'm sorry master," he said as he turned to the cloaked man.

The other masked figures snickered.

"Don't let it happen again," the cloaked man stated. "Or else I'll be forced to turn my wand on you."

"Sorry master," the masked man said as he bowed deeply.

"Rodolphus," the cloaked killer said as he turned to regard the children, "make sure that Frank is secure. Barty, move your cousin out of the way – the children are small enough that they could hide behind her."

Both men bowed before following their lord's commands. In a matter of moments the two had completed their tasks – Rodolphus by firmly tying the Auror to the chandelier and Barty by transfiguring the corpse into a rather large bone.

"Take them outside," the cloaked figure commanded. Silently the others obliged, leaving the man with the two babies.

With no other obstacles in his way, the cloaked man turned his wand on the children again. "Avada Kadavra!"

A brilliant flash of green light filled the tiny cabin then suddenly the building collapsed.

*****

The loud crackling of wood as it burned in the fireplace and the loud yet gentle gonging of the grandfather clock echoed through the house as several figures sat in the kitchen. One figure clung tightly to the tiny bundle in her arms, sobbing silently as she cradled her child to her bosom.

Standing beside her was a tall with glasses and unruly black hair. With one hand in a sling and the other on his wife's shoulder, he looked at the ancient wizard sitting across from them. "I don't know what to say Sirius," the man said. "I thought we could trust him…"

"So did I," the other man sighed. "So did I. At least we captured him."

"What about Frank and Alice?" the man asked. "How did they get to them?"

"It was Couch Jr."

Stunned silence filled the room as only the crackling wood and gentle snores filled the kitchen.

"The Lestranges were injured and initially escaped," the scruffy man finally said, breaking the silence. "Mad-Eye got them. After what they did to his partner I don't blame him for going all out in capturing them."

The be-speckled man nodded.

"Frank was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse for a fairly long time," Sirius explained, "the healers aren't sure if he'll make a full recovery… and the fact that he watched as Alice was killed… the emotional, psychological, and physical pain may have broken his mind."

"And Neville?" the woman asked even as she cradled her own son in her arms. "What happened to Neville?"

"Madam Pomfrey already examined him, and he looks to be fine," the wiry wizard stated. "I heard Dumbledore already left to take him his closest relative on Alice's side."

"But Frank…" James muttered.

"He's in no shape to take care of Neville, James," the wiry wizard replied. "Besides, the charm that protects Neville requires that he stay with Alice's closest blood relative."

"Did Alice even have any other relatives?" the be-speckled wizard asked.

"I don't know, Frank and Alice never told us about any of her relatives," the scruffy wizard replied. "Then again, I barely knew Frank and Alice."

"She never talked of her relatives," the woman said quietly. "She wasn't close to anyone in her family."

"But Dumbledore knows who she's related to?" James asked.

Sirius nodded. "Apparently they don't live in England."

*****

A gentle breeze caressed the ancient wizard's face as he stood in beside a giant boulder. The distinctive boulder was bound by a large rope with several seals attached to it, clearly designed to keep a great evil sealed away.

Reaching into his pocket the wise old wizard extracted a small vial and threw it against the boulder, shattering the small glass container and spilling its contents over the rope. In a matter of seconds all the areas of the rope that had come into contact with the liquid had dissolved, falling away from the stone and displacing the carefully placed seals.

For several minutes the wizard simply cradled the small bundle in his other arm as he took in the sights of the barren mountain. Finally a gentle rumbling slowly could be heard as the mountain began to tremble ever so slightly. Ever so slightly the rumbling began to grow in correspondence with the trembling of the earth.

Suddenly the giant sealing boulder exploded violently, showering the area with stone, though none seemed to reach the ancient wizard or the small bundle that he carried.

A tiny figure emerged from the gaping darkness, stumbling out of the cave as it strained itself after having sundered the giant boulder. Exhausted by the incredible feat, the diminutive figure fell to the ground.

Pulling a large bottle out of his pocket the wizard sighed as he set it down. Pulling out his wand he uncorked the bottle before magically lifting the bottle towards the fallen figure.

Slowly the tiny figure propped itself up. Not even bothering to look up at the tall figure, the tiny man quickly guzzled the alcoholic beverage. Sated, he finally turned his attention to his reluctant rescuer.

"Happosai, I presume," the tall wizard stated rather than asked.

"Eh, English, I haven't heard that in a while," the tiny figure replied.

"I am Albus Dumbledore," the tall wizard stated. "And this is Neville Longbottom," he added as he indicated the tiny bundle in his arm.

Happosai didn't like the sound of that. It was all the worse considering that it was a man holding the baby. Just what had they been able to accomplish with magic in the time that he had been sealed away?

"Neville is the great-grandson of Abigail Couch," Albus stated, hoping that the name would ring a bell. True, the man had been sealed away for several years, and he was reportedly nearly three hundred years old, but it was clear that the man was still very spry despite his age. "From what I hear you may not recall her very well considering that you were fairly drunk after consuming several bottles of fire whisky."

That rang a bell. It'd been a long time since he'd had fire whisky, the favored drink of the English witches and wizards.

"Please, if you would," Dumbledore said as he conjured several seats for them. "This is a long story."

*****

A gentle rainfall provided a light and soothing rhythm for the small child to fall asleep to. Exhausted from a full day of training and watching his three month old son, the rotund martial artist gently set his son down. Eyeing the recently repaired family shrine the martial artist contemplated contacting his friend and fellow master of Anything Goes Martial Arts but having recently contacted Soun regarding the joining of the Schools already, the rotund man decided against it. It had only been a few days since the shrine had broken, and it had apparently been because of the light tremors that had rocked the entire ward – definitely not because some ancient evil had escaped.

With his mind quickly shifting back to the training regimen that he was developing for his young son, the man barely even registered the gentle knocking at the front door.

"Dear," his wife called out in her soft and sweet voice, "you've got company."

Hearing her distinctive shuffling feet as she lead their guest into the he strained his ears for the sound of their guest's steps. _He must be skilled_, the rotund martial artists surmised, not hearing any footsteps.

Putting on a warm, welcoming smile, he went to greet his guest. Had he been paying attention he would have noted the presence of a tiny bundle in his wife's arms, and he would have recalled that his son was asleep in his crib. As such, the skilled martial artists simply froze as he spotted the tiny figure that waited for him in.

"Hello Genma," the diminutive figure said coolly, barely containing a dark glare.

"Ma-master!" the balding figure shouted as he knelt and bowed to the powerful martial artist before him.

"Oh, so you do know him," the woman said as she rocked the stirring child. "I'll just take…"

"Longbottom, Neville Longbottom," Happosai said in perfect English.

Genma looked up, unsure of the turn of events.

"My great-grandson," Happosai sighed. "You can sit up now," he instructed his former student.

"I-it's good to see you master," Genma lied.

Seeing through the lie, the ancient martial artist stared at his former student. "I know that you and Soun were the ones that sealed me away. If I weren't a responsible for Neville, I'd extract some sort of revenge on both of you. As it is, I think that having you and… what's your wife's name?"

"Nodoka," the flabbergasted martial artist supplied.

"Yes, Nodoka," the tiny martial artist said, "I think that staying with you and your family will be punishment enough."

"B-but, why me?"

"Because you have a child," Happosai answered.

"B-but Soun has three," Genma pleaded.

"Three daughters," the ancient master corrected. "I'm sure that he and his wife have plenty on their hands with his daughters. But you and Nodoka only have…"

"Ranma," the rotund man offered.

"Ranma to look after, and with me around I'm sure that the three of us can watch over Ranma and Neville," Happosai reasoned.

Genma sighed. He definitely was not going to get out of this easily.

*****

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series.

* * * * *

Having spent much of his life in Asia, and Japan in particular, the sandy haired boy couldn't help but marvel at the amazing sights that England provided. Having received his invitation to Hogwarts only a few short weeks ago he was surprised to discover how different things were in England when compared to Japan. Not only did witches and wizards (the western name for magi) hide themselves from 'Muggle' or non-magical folk, but they specifically segregated themselves from the rest of society. In Japan the magi lived among their non-magical brethren, helping them and often openly selling their wares. Anything from simple charms that brought a family good luck or warned of bad luck to banishing the echoes of spirits long forgotten, to outright banishing evil spirits could be handled if you found the right magi.

And then there were the wands. While a few eastern magi used the instruments, most preferred to use eastern magic which didn't rely on the often temperamental devices.

"I don't know if I can do this grandpa," the sandy haired boy stated as he looked over the text books before him. Though he was still a week away from going to England Neville couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the prospect.

"Don't worry Neville," Happosai stated. Though his great-grandson towered over him even at the tender age of eleven the old grandmaster and founder of Anything Goes Martial Arts could tell that the boy was nervous. "Ranma will be going with you as well."

"But why can't you come to England with us?" Neville asked.

"I've got other business," the old man sighed. He really didn't want to tell his great-grandson that he'd been banished from that country and most of Europe. And that was before he'd gotten involved in the goblin rebellions. "Besides, Genma and Nodoka will accompany you both to London."

Despite his obvious apprehension the young boy nodded, accepting the old man's decision.

* * * * *

"You're sure about this?" a gruff old voice asked.

The tall wizard nodded. Though he was slightly uncertain the old wizard knew not to show any doubt before his long time friend.

"They do say that there's no place safer than Hogwarts," the shorter mage replied. "I guess I'll be leaving this with you then."

Pulling out a small brown leather sack the ancient wizard handed it to his friend and colleague.

"I assure you Nicolas, this" he placed the pouch in to his inside pocket, "will be safe."

* * * * *

The cool, damp and dusty air of Number 12 Grimmauld Place always unnerved the slender redhead. Though she rarely visited her husband's best friend's ancestral home the few times she did were always kept secret from her husband. True, two of those times had been because she, Sirius and Lupin were planning to surprise James or Harry, but this - this was not one of those times.

With her husband and his friends off taking her son out to try his new broom Lily knew that now was the best, no, the only time she could meet with him. Hearing the air being expelled from the fire place she knew that the man she was meeting in secret had finally arrived.

Wiping the soot from his robes the tall, greasy haired man nodded, "Lily."

"Severus," she returned. "Is it true?"

The dark man simply stared at her. "Your son's birthday and his birthday are just a day apart," he stated, "of course it's true. Little Harry and Neville will be attending school together once the new term begins."

The slender woman's throat suddenly went dry. Though she knew the facts, she couldn't help but hope that things would work out for the best. Still…

"Promise me," she said as she gasped her wand, "promise me that you'll look out for him."

Again the dark man eyed her. "Why?"

"You know what happened to his mother, and what's happened to his father," she pleaded. "She's my best friend's son."

"I know," Snape replied. "You even named you daughter after her."

"Please Severus," she begged. "If you"

"Don't," he said coldly. "Don't"

Lily looked up at the man that she once called her friend.

"Don't beg," he sighed, "it's unbecoming of you."

Swallowing his pride, he took a step back from the woman that he loved, that he'd harmed and ultimately pushed into the arms of the man he hated the most. "I'll watch over the boy. No harm shall come to him while I'm around."

Not bothering to grab any of the green powder Severus Snape pulled out his own pouch of Floo powder. "Don't tell him about his father," Snape suggested as he gave her one final look. Turning away he glanced at the fire. "Hogwarts," he stated as he leapt into the fireplace.

With a sigh Lily watched as the fames of the fireplace turned red and orange as the magical powder vanished. Pointing her wand at the fireplace she extinguished the fire before returning to her work. Though the house was the ancestral home of the Black family and had stood virtually empty for nearly a decade it would soon be filled with new, if temporary, residents. It was her duty to ensure that the house was ready for its new tenants.

* * * * *

Ranma wasn't sure what to expect of England. Having traveled through much of Japan and parts of Asia the young heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts had seen more than his share of the world, yet England, and Europe by extension, was vastly different. At least what he'd seen of England was different. Sure, the Japanese had castles with moats around them, but nothing as cold and as imposing as the ones he'd seen in the travel brochures of England and Europe.

Yes, England was an island nation like Japan, but other than the castles that was where the similarities ended.

Not only were the English noticeably taller, they were also speaking a different kind of English than what Ranma was used to. Having spent some time around the American Naval base in Nerima both Ranma and Neville had a good grasp on the English language, or so they had thought. Clearly the English version of, um, English, was noticeably different. It was almost like the Australian version of English, though slightly different as well.

Being the only competent English speakers of the group it had fallen on Ranma and Neville to translate for the older couple as the quartet made their way around London.

The stop at the Ministry of Magic to register had been first, though technically it had also been where they had appeared after grabbing the wooden sword that was used to teleport them to England. The underground building had a cold and artificially warm feeling about it as the highly polished black marble felt as though the walls were closing in on him rather than inviting him in.

Having left Japan at roughly 6pm they arrived in London, England at just after 9am despite the fact that it was the same day. Ranma's mind reeled as he considered having to endure another full day.

An hour later the quartet was on their way out of the imposing and cold building. Fortunately they were wearing western clothing, allowing them to not stick out as much as they had before. True, Ranma was wearing black silk pants rather than jeans, but otherwise they fit in relatively well.

"You must be Nokoda," a redheaded woman said in obviously rehearsed and broken Japanese as they approached a room lined with fire places that burned with green flames.

"Yes," the Saotome matriarch replied.

Ranma looked at the woman and the cadre of men that stood behind her. One was a sickly looking man in a good but clearly worn suit, then there was the well kept in a scruffy-yet-manageable dark brown haired man in glasses who stood before a scruffy dark brown haired boy in glasses, then there was the very well dressed black haired and mustached man, and finally there was the little girl with wild, red hair.

"And you must be Neville-chan," the woman said in an odd combination of Japanese and English. Taking a step forward she crouched as she moved towards Neville.

Though the woman smiled at the sandy haired boy Ranma caught the distinct look of sadness in her eyes. As the heir to his family's style the young martial artist was trained to recognize those minute details even if he didn't understand them.

Clearly Neville had picked up on it at well as he reflexively moved behind the smaller Ranma, using him as a shield.

Standing protectively before his cousin, Ranma looked up at the woman. He wasn't sure why he needed to be so protective of Neville, but clearly something about her mixture of happiness and sorrow seemed to make both him and Neville uneasy.

"This is my son Harry," the woman said as she stood up. "He'll be attending Hogwarts with you. It's his first year as well."

Not versed in English culture, Ranma didn't think anything of the fact that the woman had not spoken to Genma or to himself. Perhaps she did not want to speak to the alpha male as she might have seen it as being her husband's duty. Shrugging it off, Ranma turned to the boy in glasses.

Harry seemed to give Ranma and Neville an appraising look as he approached them. Offering his hand he smiled. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter. This is my sister Alice."

Ranma's keen eye picked up how several people around them seemed to perk at the boy's name. Though they'd drawn a small crowd before with the broken Japanese introductions a larger crowd seemed to gather at the mention of the boy's name.

"Why don't we save introductions for a more private place," the boy's father suggested as he moved behind his son.

Genma nodded. He'd been told to expect some sort of greeting party once they'd finish registering with the British Ministry of Magic. Never one to draw too much attention to himself, the rotund martial artist ushered his family after the others.

"You must be Genma Saotome," the lean, sickly man said as he walked beside Genma and extended his hand. "I'm Remus Lupin."

Genma took the offered hand.

"This is Sirius Black," Remus indicated the well kept black haired man.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius stated as he offered his hand to Genma.

The walking introductions continued as the group of ten exited the Ministry. Though the dark grey car appeared to be relatively small it surprised the Japanese contingent as all ten of them managed to get into the vehicle without incident or anyone having to sit on someone else's lap.

"I insist that you stay at my ancestral home," Sirius said from the front as James drove.

"We couldn't do that," Genma replied in broken English, "we wouldn't want to impose."

"Not to worry, no one's lived in the house for three years," Sirius stated. "We've spent the week cleaning it up just for you. It's better than staying at the Leaky Cauldron and you wouldn't have to pay for anything."

Leaving the adult business to the adults, Ranma turned to face Harry and Alice.

"So have you guys ever played Quidditch?" Harry asked as he eyed the two obviously fit young boys.

Neville shrugged as Ranma shook his head.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed. "They don't play Quidditch!"

* * * * *

Ranma stood atop the broom. Considering that it was Ranma the scene really wasn't that unusual. No. what was unusual was that he was standing atop a broom seventeen meters off the ground, dodging bludgers as though it were nothing even as he sped across the pitch with the quaffle. Gripping the broom with his big toe and that other toe, Ranma jumped off the speeding broom even as he threw the quaffle into the air. Leaping onto a bludger he used it to spring into the air even higher before delivering a powerful kick that sent the quaffle into the hoop that Lupin guarded. As though he planned it, Ranma floated down to gently land on his borrowed broom.

Coasting down to the ground Ranma leapt off the broom, not ignoring the fact that James Potter had managed to catch the golden snitch.

"That's some amazing flying," James complemented as he landed beside the raven haired boy.

Ranma simply shrugged, "Thanks."

"You're sure you've never flown before?" Harry asked as he landed next to his father.

The raven haired boy nodded. Glancing up at Neville as the taller of the three boys struggled to control his broom it was clear that someone wasn't comfortable with heights combined with high speeds.

"Neville!" Nodoka exclaimed as the sandy haired boy lost his grip on the borrowed broom.

Before the adult wizards could even reach for their brooms Ranma and Genma were leaping into the air. Using his father as a springboard Ranma launched himself at Neville, tapping the falling boy's leg just enough so that the taller boy could control his own descent. Both boys landed gently though not necessarily gracefully despite falling over ten meters.

"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

"It's the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Genma stated proudly.

"Martial arts? As in Kung Fu?" Lupin asked.

The three martial artists nodded.

"That's a bit hard to believe," Sirius chimed in.

"Well, our founder is a mage, so he has incorporated magic into the style, but we haven't learned to use magic to enhance ourselves yet," Neville said in his slightly American version of English.

Ranma nodded. "This is simple physics and aerodynamics," he added.

The three adult wizards looked at each other. Clearly these boys had learned more than other children their age.

"Where did you learn to speak English?" Lily asked, quickly changing the direction of the conversation.

Neville shrugged. "There's an American Naval Base in Nerima," he explained. "We've been learning English from them."

"That explains the accent," Sirius grinned.

"That explains why they're so fluent in English," James added.

Despite himself Neville yawned.

"Oh, I forgot that it's night time in Japan," Lily stated. "Why don't we show you to Sirius' place so you can get settled in?"

Nodoka nodded. "That would be nice," she replied in well practiced English.

"Then it's settled," Sirius said with a smile, "we'll head to Diagon Alley tomorrow for everyone's school supplies."

* * * * *

The dark, almost cold building was a dramatic departure from what Neville was used to. Though it was clean and sort of comfortable, the magically concealed building had a menacing air around it. The fact that there were more bedrooms than the four of them could use also made the house seem even more imposing to the young boy.

Though they had spent three days in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Neville still had yet to fell comfortable with the building. But the building was just a part of the problem. Though few would say that Neville was on par with Ranma in noticing things around him, it was hard for him to not notice how the adult witches and wizards that had greeted them seemed to have a sad look in their eyes whenever they looked at him. Yes, they all appeared to be very sincere in how they treated him, but there was always that edge of sorrow that seemed to taint how he took their actions.

With a sigh Neville glanced down at the light that shown under the door of the lounge. Hours ago the house and the lounge had been full of life as the Potters, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black and his niece, and several others had gathered with the Saotome family and Neville to celebrate Neville and Harry's birthdays as well as Ranma's belated birthday. Though the party had been hours ago, the house was not empty as many of Sirius' friends and the Potters were still over.

Yet as fun and exciting as the party had been, Neville couldn't help but wonder about the presents that he'd received. Though he had received more than his fair share of presents he had not met many of his supposed relatives that had given him the gifts.

Sitting on the stairs with his new pet toad, a gift from some great uncle that he hadn't met, he couldn't help but wonder about his family, or what he thought was his family. Having been raised by his great-grandfather the young boy knew he was different. As a Caucasian being raised in Japan it was easy to see that he stuck out. If not for the fact that Ranma was basically raised as a brother to him he was sure that he'd have had a harder time adapting to life in Japan.

Despite the Saotome family's best efforts Neville always felt like he didn't belong. Not only was he not as skilled as Ranma in the arts, or as quick as Ranma to pick up the little bits of magic that Happosai and some of the others taught them but he also felt like things were being kept from him.

"You're curious, aren't you?" Ranma asked as he lowered himself to sit beside his cousin.

Neville nodded.

"Akira," Ranma said as he addressed his new pet mantis, holding the bejeweled creature on his outstretched hand, "put this on the door." Taking out a simple listening charm he handed it to the intelligent insect. Though he'd only owned the creature for a day Ranma had already trained the creature to do minor jobs.

Leaping off his hand the crystalline creature jumped onto the railing then sprang to the opposite wall. Scaling the wall it climbed onto the door and skillfully placed the charmed piece of paper on the door.

While Neville knew how to create the simple charm, he lacked Ranma's finesse in hiding the charm, a point proven by the slowly vanishing piece of paper as it blended in with the wooden door.

Ranma smirked as he withdrew a packet of soot. Dipping his pinkey into the soot he drew the receptor symbol on Neville's forehead then on his own. Neville didn't bother wiping the soot away as he knew that Ranma's special soot would vanish just as the piece of paper had.

"Oy!" Harry hissed as he tried to sneak down the stairs. "What are you blokes doing?"

Ranma lifted his finger to his lips, the universal sign for silence.

Harry nodded as he hopped down the steps, carefully stepping over the creaking step before sitting beside Ranma. The raven haired boy quickly dipped his finger into the soot before drawing the symbol onto Harry's forehead.

"I can't believe that they didn't come," Lily said as her voice was transmitted to the two boys.

"They seem to have their reasons," Sirius stated.

"But he's their blood – they're his family!" the redhead hissed.

"You know what Frank's been through, what he's lost," James said as he tried to calm his wife.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore hasn't tried to correct this," Lupin interjected. "All these years…"

"And he hasn't done a thing!" the fiery redhead exclaimed, cutting off the others.

Carefully stepping over the creaking step, Harry took a seat beside Ranma. The raven haired boy quickly dipped his finger into the soot before drawing the symbol onto Harry's forehead.

"You know that Frank barely survived the Cruciatus Curse," Sirius hissed, clearly upset about something. "He was nearly broken, probably was – the man thinks that his son and wife both died!"

Neville trembled.

Ranma quickly smugged the symbols on both Neville and Harry's foreheads before undoing his own. This was clearly something that they were not meant to hear.

"Swear to me Harry," Ranma said as the usually carefree boy turned deathly serious. Grabbing Harry's shoulders, his cerulean eyes boring holes into Harry's emerald green ones, "Swear that you'll never tell anyone about this."

Harry nodded, "I-I swear, I won't tell anyone about this."

Confident that he had the other boy's trust, Ranma nodded before letting go. "Come on," he said as he reached for Neville. "We shouldn't be here."

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series.

* * * * *

Ranma hated keeping secrets. It was hard for the young martial artist to accept the fact that he had knowledge that adults or other kids wouldn't like or might try to use against him. If not for the fact that Happosai and his father had force both he and Neville to never tell anyone about who Neville really was the two boys would probably have let it slip that Neville was the descendant of a wizard that much of the western world reviled. Though they didn't understand why, they knew that they needed to keep that secret.

Then there was their other secret – that one neither boy wanted to have to explain.

Finally there was the secret about Neville's father and mother. Though Neville had been raised by his great-grand father on his mother's side he had always been told that that was because his father couldn't take care of himself or of Neville. The sudden realization that the man was still alive but thought that his son was dead though changed things.

Having accepted all that Genma, Nodoka, and Happosai had told them as the truth, Ranma and Neville were both shaken by the revelation that Neville's father was still alive. If that was a lie, than what else had they lied to them about?

"Is something wrong dear?" Nodoka asked as the kind woman set down a pitcher of orange juice for the boys. With the boys to spend the majority of the next seven years in England the Saotome Matron had decided that they should all get used to enjoying the local fare. An expert in the kitchen, Nodoka quickly caught on to the lessons that Lily had provided her over the past few days.

The sullen boys simply shook their heads as none of the three dared to bring up what they'd heard the previous night.

"Why don't we get some practice in before breakfast," Genma suggested rather than asked as he put his hands on Neville and Ranma's shoulder, leading them out to the tiny courtyard. Despite its rather humble appearance the courtyard was much larger than it appeared as it had been enchanted to provide more space for the users.

The quick morning spar pitted the two boys against the Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. After the first five minutes it was clear that their lack of experience and bulk was more than enough to compensate for their slightly greater numbers as Genma expertly dodged and weaved between their combined attacks. Using his size to his advantage Genma waited for Ranma to telegraph a kick before countering with his own, sending the smaller of the two boys sprawling through the air before finally twisting in midair so that he managed to spring off of the wall.

Not bothering to watch Ranma soar through the air Genma connected with a swift snap kick to the back of Neville's leg, throwing the growing boy off balance and then into the ground.

"Not bad Neville," he complemented with a laugh as he offered a hand to the taller of the two boys.

Rather than accepting his master's offered hand the sandy haired boy pushed off the ground. Springing to his feet he expertly swept Genma's feet out from underneath the rotund man. Startled, Genma barely managed to twist so as not to injure himself as he hit the ground. Rolling to reduce the impact he felt Neville's kick connect with his ribs.

Skillfully catching the boy's leg as he recoiled the limb and prepared for another attack, the large man pulled the tall boy down to the ground. Using his greater bulk Genma pinned the young sandy haired boy down even as Ranma rushed to join the fray.

A deceptively powerful spinning jump kick from the raven haired boy caught Genma in the side of the head, dazing him even as it forced him off of Neville. Instinctively the large man back handed his son, sending the boy rolling away and buying himself some time to recover as he got to his feet.

Neville sprang to his feet, rushing in with a right cross that few wide that turned into a spinning axe kick that forced Genma to block. Using the force of the kick Neville flipped into the air before trying to kick off of Genma's forearm. Feeling the powerful grip preventing him from springing away Neville smiled Ranma rushed underneath him. Having played the decoy/diversion for the attack the sandy haired boy accepted that he couldn't spring away as Ranma dashed past Genma's guard and delivered a cork-screwing thrusting punch to the stomach of the master martial artist.

Unfortunately the boys lacked Genma's power and durability as the fully grown man shrugged off the hit before slamming Neville onto Ranma. Dazed, the boys simply lay there as Genma sat down on them, pinning them to the ground.

"That," the rotund man sighed, "was a good work out. Once you two finish growing and adapting to your new bodies you'll both be forces to be reckoned with. You'll be men amongst men."

Standing up Genma disregarded the rueful looks that the Potters, Sirius and Lupin threw him as he stood over the boys. Offering hi hands to the boys he smiled as they took the offered limbs.

Neville and Ranma shared a knowing look as they brushed off the dirt and grime from their morning ritual. Regardless of what the adults told them they knew that they would always be there for each other and together they would overcome any obstacles that they faced. Well, they would once they grew up a bit. One day they'd be able to take down the master, and perhaps even the Grandmaster.

* * * * *

The cool gray cement and mellow orange-red bricks of London gave way to the crisp gray cut stones and deep brown boards of Diagon Alley as the foursome entered magical London. Though their hosts had taken them to the Leaky Cauldron, the western magi had wanted the eastern travelers to see and experience the location without any bias, allowing the Saotome family and Neville to enter magical London alone for their first visit.

Neville had to admit, he was a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps it was because western magi tended to segregate themselves from the non-magic using populace, but regardless of the reason for their separation the sandy haired boy couldn't help but notice the extreme differences in the two cultures and societies. Unlike eastern magi who lived with the general populace and who had adapted to technology, the western magi appeared to be stuck in the middle ages when compared to their non-magical counterparts. Having not mastered how to control electricity like eastern magi had, the western or European magi had adapted their magic to perform similar functions. And they still used candles.

And there were the robes. Who wore robes still? Sure, the priestesses or priests often wore them for ceremonies, but outside of that they wore fairly modern clothes. Seeing a street full of people decked out in robes (though there were a few who wore regular, modern attire) the pair of youngsters simply shrugged.

Wandering through Diagon Alley the foursome attracted little attention as they approached the white marble building that was Gringotts, the wizard world's primary bank. Having dealt with the goblins in Japan's branch of the bank the foursome merely withdrew from Happosai's considerable account rather than having to exchange yen for golden galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts.

Purchasing their school books and supplies (cauldrons, various ingredients for potions, dragon hide gloves, fitted school robes, and a small starter kit for home growing their own common ingredients like wolf's bane, garlic, and several minor magical plants) the foursome quickly made their way down the alley before finally meeting up with the three Potters in front of Ollivander's Wand shop.

Entering the dark, dusty shop the three youngsters eyed the shelves stocked with mysterious boxes.

"Ah," a wise old man said as he emerged from behind the countertop, "the Potters, I was wondering when I'd see you again. Here to get your son his first wand I take it?"

The man with messy brown hair nodded, "These are the Saotomes and their ward, Neville. They're also here to get wands for the boys."

"Actually," Neville spoke up, "Ranma and I have wands already."

The assembled adults looked down at the two boys. "Grandpa made them for us before we came to England," the sandy haired boy stated. Reaching into his left sleeve he pulled out his wand even as Ranma did the same.

"Blimy," Harry exclaimed as he eyed the other boys, "you didn't tell me you already had wands."

Ranma shrugged, "We were told not to use them until we get on the train to school."

"Interesting," the white haired man stated as he stepped out from behind the counter. "May I?" he asked, reaching out to inspect the taller boy's wand.

The sandy haired boy shrugged even as he handed the man his still unused wand.

A shiver ran through the man as he held Neville's wand. Staring at the light wood he eyed Neville, "Nine and a half inches of Yew"

Lily and James glanced at each other then at the old wand maker before shifting their gaze at Neville.

"and the core is from the tail feather of a very powerful phoenix," Ollivander stated.

"Extraordinary," the ancient shopkeeper stated as he waved the wand, sending a shower of flaming sparks through the air. Shaking his head he handed the wand back to Neville.

Neville shrugged as he accepted his wand back.

The raven haired boy offered his wand to the old man.

"Eight and three-quarters inches of ebony," he stated, "and the core… hair of a totetsu?" Ranma nodded. "Interesting… I have only heard that they exist." Handing the wand back to Ranma he shook his head. "I should warn you, in the west the Wands choose their wizards. Yours clearly chose you as well, but you should be careful and not tell anyone about your wands as they may seek to take them from you."

Ranma and Neville both nodded.

"Now then, young mister Potter," he said as he turned to face the third boy, "let us take your measurements."

"Dear," Lily said as she smiled at her husband, "why don't you wait here with Harry while he gets his wand? I'll take the Saotomes and Neville to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and you can meet us there."

James nodded. "We can all go to check out the brooms after lunch," he added, eliciting a grin of approval from Harry.

* * * * *

The cold moonlight shone through the frosted glass, lighting the room in a pale white light. Though he was now fully adjusted to the time differential Neville couldn't sleep. The week spent at the Black's ancestral home had been long and tiring, but tomorrow, well, that would be another thing as he and Ranma would join hundreds of other students at Hogwarts.

"Neville," a soft voice called out from the shadows.

"Hi Happy," the young boy replied.

"How ya doing my boy?" the energetic grandmaster asked as he stepped out of the shadows.

The sandy haired boy smiled meekly.

"So, you found out," the ancient grandmaster stated. "I… I'm sorry, I should have been the one who told you."

Despite his best efforts Neville couldn't help but tearing up.

"I never knew your father, or your mother," the tiny fighter stated, "but I've been told that they were courageous people."

A heartfelt sigh escaped the old man as he crawled into the couch beside his great-grandson. "Despite my great age there are many things even I don't know. This magical world is full of many great dangers, and I'm afraid that you and Ranma are going to be exposed to it soon. But like any student of mine I expect you to persevere and ultimately win. No lesson is insignificant as every day is a test."

Neville nodded.

"Get some sleep my boy," Happosai advised as he patted Neville's sandy haired head. Planting a sleeping charm he smiled at the boy, "You're going to have a long day tomorrow and you're going to need your strength."

* * * * *

The faint afternoon light barely pierced the thick clouds overhead, leaving only a light glow at the end of the station where the trains emerged from the building.

"Why did we leave so late?" Ranma asked as he lifted his trunk over his shoulder effortlessly.

Neville shrugged as he did the same. Having endured his grandfather's rigorous training ever since he was able to walk the sandy haired boy was more than capable of holding his meager collection of clothes over his shoulder. Unfortunately the same could not be said of his collection of books and other school supplies, or the elusive toad Trevor.

"You sure you don't need a hand with that?" a ginger haired boy asked.

Though Neville was tall for his age, he had nothing on the pair of redheaded boys that stood at the end of the train.

Nodding, Neville watched as the two identical boys helped him, Ranma, and Harry carry their things onto the train.

"Weasley," the first boy said, "Fred Weasley, and this is my twin brother George Weasley."

"He's kidding," the other stated, "I'm Fred and he's George."

The three boys looked at the two.

"Neville Longbottom," the sandy haired boys stated, "and my cousin Ranma Saotome."

Ranma accepted Fred's (or was it George?) extended hand even as Neville took the other twin's hand.

"Harry," the brown haired boy stated, "Harry Potter."

The twins glanced at him even as they shook the other boys' hands before shaking Harry's hand.

"Wicked," one of the twins stated as he smirked at the other twin.

"Have fun mates," the other said with a smile. "We're gonna go find our friends."

"Yeah, they should have already picked out a compartment already," the first twin stated.

Waving at the twins the trio looked around.

"Here," Ranma said as he pointed to the last compartment, "this one's empty."

Shrugging his shoulders Neville followed Ranma inside with Harry quickly following suit.

"So you got an owl," Ranma stated as he looked at the pristine white feathers of the nocturnal predator.

Harry nodded. "One of dad's friends bought it for me when we were in Diagon Alley," the exuberant boy stated. "This way I can keep in touch with my parents."

The other boys stared at him.

"Owl post," Harry stated, "that's how wizards send their mail to each other."

Neville and Ranma exchanged a look.

"Like when those birds came with our letters," Neville mumbled.

The raven haired boy nodded. "He won't eat Akira, will he?"

"She," the brown haired boy replied, "and her name's Hedwig. She eats mice and owl treats, maybe some toast or sausage."

"No toads then," Neville confirmed as he kept Trevor from jumping away.

"No toads or bugs," Harry stated.

A gentle rapping at the door announced the presence of another redheaded and freckled boy, "Do you mind if I join you? All the others are full."

Ranma and Neville shrugged, indifferent to the presence of another boy, leaving Harry to nod, "Sure."

With the two cousins sitting on one bench the new boy sat beside Harry.

"You're not related to Fred and George-"

"They're my brothers," the tall redhead stated, cutting off Neville. "I'm Ron Weasley."

"Neville Longbottom," the sandy haired boy replied as he offered his hand.

Reaching over Ron shook his hand, wincing as he shook the sandy haired boy's hand.

"Ranma Saotome," the raven haired boy added as he offered his hand.

Ron reached over and shook Ranma's hand.

"Harry," the brown haired boy said, "Harry Potter."

The redhead blinked. "Blimy – it's true…" reaching out he quickly took Harry's hand.

Ranma and Neville glanced from Ronald to Harry, taking in the redhead's awed face and the brown haired boy's confident smile.

"What's true?" Ranma ventured to ask.

"It's Harry Potter – the Boy Who Lived!" Ron exclaimed.

"'The Boy Who Lived'?" the smaller boy repeated.

"The only wizard to survive being attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you know…"

Neville and Ranma shook their heads.

"They're not from England, they don't know," Harry stated.

The young Weasley simply nodded, "I thought you blokes had a weird accent. It sounds kind of like…"

"American English," Harry finished.

"We learned English from American soldiers deployed to Nerima," Neville explained.

"Nerima?" the redhead asked.

"We're from Japan," Ranma stated.

Again Ron nodded. "I did think it was weird," he mumbled. "I mean, the last person that You-Know-Who killed, well, he was named Neville Longbottom. He was just a baby like Harry was, but somehow Harry survived."

Neville blinked.

"That's why he's called 'The Boy Who Lived'," Ranma said quickly.

Harry averted his eyes. Maybe he wasn't the only one who had survived. But why would everyone think that Neville had died if he was, well, here?

"Yeah," the scarred boy stated as he shrugged.

Before anyone could say anything the boys were interrupted again as the door to their compartment was opened once again, this time by a middle aged witch. "Anything off the trolley dears?"

Ronald seemed to shrink in on himself as he extracted something from his pocket. "No thanks…"

"We'll take the lot," Harry quickly said, seeing a chance to change the conversation. "Two of everything for each of us."

Pulling out a pocket full of galleons he gave the witch more than enough gold to cover their purchases.

"Ranma, Neville," a new voice exclaimed as the witch unloaded the recently purchased treats into the compartment.

"Li!" Ranma smirked. "I thought you were going back to Hong Kong!"

"Syaoran!" Neville added. Though he was closer to the door the sandy haired boy sat with his back to the door and the outer hall, but hearing his friend's name Neville turned around to face his friend. "Harry, Ron, this is Li Syaoran."

Offering a polite bow to both indicated boys, Li turned to Ranma. "I did, but since Hong Kong is still a colony of the British Empire I'm going to attend Hogwarts. I thought I'd see you two when I went back to visit Japan but I only saw the Master there."

"We've been in England for the past two weeks," Neville explained. "Li's was a transfer student with us last year."

"**I heard about your trip to China**," Li said in clear Cantonese as he turned to face Ranma and Neville.

"**A tale for another time**," Neville replied in fluid Cantonese.

"Wicked," Ron exclaimed. "You speak another language?"

"Cantonese," Li stated. "While Hong Kong is a colony we still retain much of our own culture and traditions from the Chinese."

Both English boys nodded.

"We picked up some Cantonese from Li and even did some traveling in China recently," Ranma stated as he glanced at his friendly rival.

"Would you like any more?" the witch asked as she finished unloading the candy that Harry had paid for.

Li glanced at the box of mixed candy and shook his head. "That'll be more than enough," he replied as he took a seat between Ranma and Neville.

"So, how's Sa-ku-ra?" the raven haired boy teased.

"Better than your fiancée," Li replied. "She didn't even know that you were leaving."

Ron and Harry blinked.

"Fiancée?"

"Ranma's old man agreed to have him marry one of his friend's three daughters," Neville explained. "One of them is just as old as we are; the others are just a bit older."

"She's not my fiancée," the raven haired boy grumbled.

"I wasn't talking about her," Li stated. "I was talking about the girl in China."

Ranma and Neville froze. Clearly their friend knew more about their travels then he should have.

"She kissed you, didn't she?" Li asked as he threw a pack of any flavor jelly beans to Neville.

"Ew!" Harry exclaimed.

"Gross!" Ron seconded.

"That's the kiss of marriage," Li explained. "She's picked you as her future husband – once she'd old enough she's going to come after you. She won't be accepted back into her village until she brings you back as her husband or kills you."

Harry and Ron blinked.

"What the bloody hell were you two up to over the summer?" Harry asked.

Neville scratched his head. "Well, right after we received our letters to Hogwarts the masters took us on a training trip, you know, to make up for the training we wouldn't get while we were in school."

Harry and Ron leaned forward, listening intently to Neville and Ranma's abridged tale of their adventures over the summer holidays.

* * * * *

A/N

Yes, Ranma and Neville have a cursed form, but they're not what you think they are.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series.

* * * * *

Hundreds of stars filled the night sky, lighting the nearly dark night as the young first years departed the Hogwarts Express.

"First Years!" a booming voice shouted.

Ranma, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Syaoran hopped off the train and quickly moved away from the other students.

"First years over here!" the tall figure called out.

"That's Hagrid, keeper of the grounds," Harry stated as waved at the big man. "He's the one who bought me my owl. He's a friend of my parents and godfather."

It didn't take long for all of the new students to make their way around the large man. Soon they were being led away from the other lingering students, making Ranma and Neville wonder why they as a group were being singled out.

"They do this to all first years," Harry stated as he walked beside Ranma.

The three international magi nodded, simply accepting their new friend's statement.

While most of the other students tentatively made their way through the darkness Ranma and Neville confidently strode through. Having spent much of their time in the mountains training with their masters the two were used to the relative darkness of the countryside. Even with the stars obscured by the thick canopy overhead the two youngsters made their way through the trail, easily avoiding the thick roots and rounded stones that stood out of the compact ground. Only a handful of the other students seemed unfazed by the darkness, a sign to Ranma and Neville that most had spent too much time in the city or relying on other sources of light.

Rather than mingling with the group that clung to the large man, Ranma, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Syaoran hung back as they took in the beauty of the full moon reflecting off the surface of the lake that they were quickly approaching.

"Did you see that?" Neville exclaimed as he pointed out at the lake.

"It looked like a giant tentacle reached out of the lake," Syaoran added.

Harry shrugged, "My parents told me that there is a giant squid in the lake."

Neville, Ranma and Syaoran paused. A quick, knowing glance and a shared shudder was all they needed to confirm their thoughts, each one grateful that they were not girls...

"Two to a boat," the booming voice instructed.

Ranma and Neville paired up as did Ron and Harry, leaving Syaoran to partner with a bushy haired girl that hadn't been able to shut up the entire time.

"Just sit in the boats," the big man explained, "they'll get into the water themselves."

Not caring to disprove him, they sat down, neither wanting to get wet inadvertently. Both boys had to admit, though the scenery of the English countryside was truly breath-taking.

"Hogwarts is protected by an anti-Muggle charm," the bushy haired girl stated to Syaoran. "It keeps Muggles from just wandering around and discovering that witches and wizards still exist. Any Muggles who come near just get a sudden feeling that they have to be somewhere else."

Once the boats were all in the water the group slowly moved away from the shore, giving the children a great view of Hogwarts castle from the lake. The almost casual pace that the boats moved at allowed the children to take in the full grandeur of Hogwarts as it stood out from the dark night sky.

Before they even realized it the lights from the castle overhead and the stars above slowly gave way to torches and lanterns as the boats slowly entered a hidden cavern. Disembarking from the boats the children followed the large man up the winding stairs towards the castle.

Ranma could tell that most of the children didn't have the endurance to handle the long climb. Only a mere dozen or so outside of himself, Harry, Ron, Neville and Syaoran didn't appear winded as they reached the first plateau/landing that was large enough to accommodate all the students and the big man. At least the long trek had silenced the winded children, particularly the bushy haired girl that had shared a boat with Syaoran.

The short respite helped recharge the youngsters before they resumed their climb. Entering the castle it was clear to Ranma and Neville just who was Muggle born or raised as those students pointed or gasped when they spotted the moving images in the paintings while those who were raised in magical families simply ignored the commotion.

"Thank you Hagrid," a new voice cut in as they reached another landing.

"Professor," the hairy man said with a polite bow.

"Greetings," the old, stern witch said as she looked over the gathered first years. "I am Professor McGonagall. In a few minutes I will be taking you into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into one of four houses – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now, those houses will be like your family for the duration of the year. Your achievements will be rewarded with points for your house and your punishments will be subtracted from your house. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the House Cup."

Looking over the students once again the tall woman nodded as she noted that no one appeared to have any further questions for her. That or she believed that they were just weren't ready to enter the Great Hall just yet.

"Now, I'll give you a moment to collect yourselves. Girls over here - boys over by Hagrid."

The sixty plus students quickly separated by gender before heading into the washrooms to freshen up.

Taking less time than most, Ranma, Neville, and Syaoran returned to the landing before being joined once again by Harry and Ron.

"Fred and George said that they had to wrestle a troll to get into Gryffindor," the redhead stated.

Ranma smirked, "I could do that."

The other children around him looked at him.

"He could," Neville nodded, "and he has."

"I thought that was an ogre," Syaoran interjected.

The sandy haired boy shook his head, "Ogre's have horns. I fought the Ogre."

"Oh, that's right," Syaoran nodded. "I always get those two mixed up."

"Where the hell did you three learn to speak English?" a smug blond boy asked. "You sound like you're bloody ignorant."

"We learned it from American soldiers," Ranma said as he turned on the blond.

Two chubby boys immediately pushed past the rest of the students to stand behind the blond.

"Your friends look as dumb as trolls, but they're not even close to being as big as babies," Ranma stated as he looked the two over.

"There's no way you could have beaten a troll," the blond stated.

"Trolls are nothing," the raven haired boy stated. "I didn't even break a sweat."

Though Ranma was significantly shorter than the blonde's goons, he was still taller than the blond boy.

"Alright," Professor McGonagall said as she led the girls towards the large doors to the Great Hall, "is everybody ready?"

Hagrid looked over the group of boys, taking a quick head count. "Alright?"

The boys nodded.

Nodding, Hagrid led the boys towards the double doors. Pushing the doors open Hagrid stepped to the side, allowing Professor McGonagall to lead the children into the Great Hall through the side entrance.

Harry waved at the hairy man as he passed, getting a friendly wave back.

Finally the group stopped once, standing before the entire student body and the faculty.

The tiered platform plateaued after two steps and went for over five meters before reaching three more steps. At the top of those steps sat the faculty and their table, providing the staff with an excellent view of the entire student body. On the plateau only a meter from the ledge sat a lone chair topped with an old leather hat.

Ranma and the others looked turned around, noting that the students had been separated into four long tables, each apparently designated for their respective houses. Above the tables were the house's respective banners and above that a candle filled night sky.

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall said, drawing the attention of all first years back to her, as she approached the chair and the hat, "you will come up here and have a seat so that the Sorting Hat can properly place you."

"I am so going to kill them," Ron mumbled in relief.

"I thought I'd get another shot at a troll," Ranma grumbled, "not that I'd lose of course, but that last one ran away before I could knock it out."

The students around Ranma that didn't know him backed away.

"Hannah Abbot," the strict witch called out as she lifted the hat off the chair.

A blond girl with twin ponytails climbed up the two steps then onto the chair before the tall witch placed the hat on her head.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat declared, drawing a loud cheer from one of the tables.

The blond girl hopped off the chair before rushing towards her new housemates at their table (the second to the left).

"Hufflepuff is supposed to be the house full of the hardest workers and the most loyal of the houses," the bushy haired girl stated.

"And they're the least talented bunch of wizards and witches," the blond boy that had confronted Ranma said, drawing a sneer from those around him.

"Susan Bones," Professor McGonagall shouted.

"What house do you think you'll get into," the blond sneered at Ranma. "Since you like to use your muscles you're probably going to be a puffball too."

"Better that than a Slytherin," Harry stated.

"Yeah," Ron piped in. "Everyone knows that the cursed snakes are nothing but a bunch of back stabbing traitors. Almost all of the followers of You-Know-Who were cowardly snakes."

"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted, drawing another chorus of cheers from that table.

"Those puffballs might be weak, but at least they're smarter than the idiot heroes of Gryffindor," a dark haired girl snipped.

"Ravenclaw's the house renowned for cleverness and intelligence," the bushy brunette said as she tried to defuse the growing tension.

"You might get into Gryffindor," the blond stated, "you're about as dumb as they get."

Ranma shot the blond a glare, "Whatever house I get into I'm sure we're gonna kick your scaly ass!"

"Vincent Crabbe," the stern witch called out, drawing one of the blond boy's companions.

"Slytherin!"

The blond smirked.

"Bloody snakes," Ron mumbled.

"Judging from your red hair and second hand cloths, I'd say you're a Weasley," the blond stated.

"Judging from the fact that you look like you just smelled yourself," Harry interjected, "you must be a Malfoy."

The boys glared at each other.

"Just because you survived doesn't mean that you won't meet a nasty end like the Longbottom boy," Malfoy stated.

Neville flinched and only Li and Ranma stopped him from tackling the blond. Though he wasn't sure why his friend had reacted the way he did, Syaoran simply followed Ranma's lead and stepped between the sandy haired boy and the small blond.

"Anthony Goldstien."

"Ravenclaw!"

Loud clapping greeted the new Ravenclaw as he moved to join his house.

"Gregory Goyle."

Malfoy nodded at the other boy behind him, allowing the big brute to go to the sorting hat.

"Slytherin!"

Malfoy's confident sneer seemed to fade as he realized just how outnumbered he was without his goons backing him up.

"Hermione Granger," Professor McGonagall called out.

The bushy haired girl almost squealed as she heard her name. Throwing one last baleful look at the boys she quickly climbed the stairs.

"Gryffindor!" the hat proclaimed after a moment of deep reflection.

Ron and Harry smirked, throwing a daring look at Malfoy.

With fewer supporters he had decided to back off. The tensions seemed to die down without Malfoy trying to stir things up.

"Syaoran Li."

Giving his friends a confident smile, the brown haired boy took a deep breath before climbing the three steps. Sitting on the chair he smiled at them again as the hat was lowered to his brow.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted.

Ron and Harry blinked.

"Loyalty," Ranma stated as he nodded at his friend.

"And hard work," Neville added. "That's Syaoran."

Both boys nodded.

"Neville Longbottom," Professor McGonagall called out.

The air in the Great Hall seemed to drastically change at the mention of his name.

Ranma looked at the sandy haired boy, giving him a supportive look.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Neville climbed the stairs as he tried to ignore all the eyes that were on him.

"He's Neville Longbottom?"

"Didn't he die?"

"I heard he's from Japan – he can't be that Neville Longbottom."

"I guess that could happen."

Steeling himself Neville turned around, immediately silencing everyone as he sat down and the hat was lowered onto his head.

"Well, well," the Sorting Hat said to him.

Neville could feel a slight tugging in his mind as the hat connected with him, scanning his mind and thoughts as it sought to place him.

"What do we have here?" the Hat asked itself rhetorically. "Loyal and brave – you've faced things that most adult witches and wizards would never dare to face.

"Gryffindor!" the hat proclaimed.

A loud cheer rose from the Gryffindor table as they greeted their newest member.

Smiling broadly he nodded at Ron, Harry, and Ranma before joining the Gryffindor table.

"Draco Malfoy."

Neville shook several hands as he sat down, ignoring the fact that the blond boy was approaching the Sorting Hat.

"Good job," Fred (or was it George?) said as he patted Neville's back.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" George (or was it Fred?) added.

"Slytherin!" the hat proclaimed.

No one at the Gryffindor table clapped or even responded to the hat as the blond marched confidently towards his new housemates. Of all the other houses, only Slytherin failed to garner any support from the Gryffindors. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw each were greeted with claps and some cheers, and of course the new Gryffindors were greeted heartily.

"Harry Potter."

Again the entire Great Hall silenced at the mention.

"He's the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"It would be this year, who else could it be?"

"The Boy-Who-Lived and another boy with the same name as the one who died – what are the odds?"

Neville couldn't help but notice that eyes were once again turning towards him. Ignoring them he watched as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. "Gryffindor!"

A loud roar escaped the Gryffindor Table as the proud house welcomed their newest member.

"We got Potter!" the Weasley twins shouted triumphantly.

Grinning victoriously, Harry dashed to join the Gryffindor table. Shaking several hands he settled in beside Neville and across from Hermione Granger even as more and more of his new housemates moved to greet him.

It took a while for the excited Gryffindors to calm down, but eventually the Professor McGonagall was able to call the next student to be sorted. Clearly none of the other students received as big a reception as Harry did, still, the other tables (except Slytherin) tried to make up the difference.

"Ranma Saotome."

Harry and Neville looked at the raven haired boy as he confidently strode up to the Sorting Hat. It seemed as though the hat sat on Ranma for much longer than it had for any other first year.

"Hufflepuff!"

Neville and Harry blinked, clearly stunned by the proclamation.

'Loyalty and hard work,' Ranma mouthed as he looked at Neville. Hopping off of the chair he joined Syaoran at the Hufflepuff table.

* * * * *

"Did you really beat up a troll?"

Ranma had barely reached the Hufflepuff table when a boy, what was his name… Ernie McMillian, yeah McMillian, turned to face him. Like most of the newly sorted Hufflepuffs Ernie was sandwiched between several older Hufflepuffs.

"Yeah," Syaoran replied. "I was there. Ranma beat up the troll, sent it running after kicking it in the head."

"Wicked," a dark brunette boy exclaimed. "Where do you find trolls?"

"Well, we were in Japan," Ranma shrugged. "A troll had been stirring up trouble and so the Master and my old man were asked to help take care of it. Of course my old man thinks that Neville and I should use it as training."

"Wait, you were called in to deal with a troll?" Ernie exclaimed.

"Yeah," the raven haired boy shrugged.

"Japan's different from England," Li explained. "They don't have separate ministries to deal with magical and non-magical things – magi live with the non-magical people, or Muggles as you know them."

"Yeah," Ranma confirmed. "But when magical issues come up they have the local magi come in and deal with things. If they can't handle it then they'll have the government agents to come in and deal with it."

"Weird," Ernie mumbled as he looked at the other boy.

"Name's Justin Finch-Fletchley," the dark haired boy stated as he held out his hand.

Ranma accepted the hand as he sat beside Li.

"Cedric," the older boy sandwiched between Justin and Ernie said as he offered his hand, "Diggory. I'm a third year. So you're both from Japan?"

"I am," Ranma replied, "Li's from Hong Kong, but he spent most of last year studying in Japan."

Li nodded.

"So you're from the Colony, cool," Justin smirked. "I was there three years ago."

"Li – as in _the_ Li Clan?" a redheaded girl asked. "The same Li Clan that produced Clow Reed?"

Syaoran stiffened.

Seeing the look on his friend's face Ranma simply chose to say nothing. Clow Reed was a sensitive subject for them.

"Yes," Li finally replied.

* * * * *

The pale moon seemed to comfort Neville as the young wizard gazed out the window. It was strange. For as long as he'd remembered he'd been close to Ranma. Yet here he was, a Gryffindor while the boy who was raised beside him, who he thought of as a brother, was a Hufflepuff. In the few weeks since receiving his letter to Hogwarts he'd never imagined that he wouldn't be with Ranma at Hogwarts.

"You alright Neville?" Harry asked as he rummaged through his trunk.

"Eat too much pudding?" Ron asked. The youngest of the Weasley boys had made it into Gryffindor – where all Weasleys apparently were sent.

Neville shrugged.

"No worries mate," the tall dark skinned boy, Dean Thomas, another first year Gryffindor said as he claimed the bed at the end of the room, "your mate might be in Hufflepuff, but you'll see him again."

"Yeah," the slightly muscular Seamus Finnigan, the first of the boys in their year to be sorted into Gryffindor chimed in. "Look at the Patil girls – they're twins and yet they got sorted into separate houses. I'm sure they're going to be alright."

Forcing a smile to his face, Neville nodded. Setting his toad down, he prepared for bed. "Yeah," he replied. "Thanks."

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series.

Anything in bold and in quotation marks is being spoken in Cantonese. Bold and Italics is Japanese.

* * * * *

The cool morning air of Northern England was very brisk, helping to wake the three boys' sharp minds.

In a flash the tallest of the boys, the sandy haired Neville, was dashing at the smallest of the boys. The brown haired boy quickly jumped back, avoiding the powerful axe kick.

Trapped between the other boys Neville kicked out at the swiftly approaching Ranma, forcing the raven haired boy back even as he swung a back fist at Syaoran.

"**I heard that you stopped at Jusenkyo**," the brown haired boy said in clear Cantonese as he ducked under the punch. A swift kick grazed the other boy's hair.

"**The Master wanted to make wands for us**," Ranma stated as he leapt over Neville's counter. Spinning in the air he aimed a flying and spinning jump kick at Li.

"**You created a Totetsu**," Li grunted as he blocked the kick, absorbing the force of the blow so that it propelled him away from his opponents. "**Not to mention that you stole from the Musk Tribe and stole the tail feather from the Phoenix King.**"

Ranma shrugged as he ducked under another kick from Neville. "**Like we're going to stop the Master**."

Syaoran shook his head. They did have a point though. No one could stop the Master - at least none of them could, and that was if all three of them were working together.

"**You know that the Musk and Phoenix have put a bounty out on you**," Li stated as he dashed, exchanging punches with Ranma.

Neville leapt over Ranma, planting his hand on a startled Syaoran's head he sent the brown haired boy crashing into Ranma.

Rolling onto his back Ranma connected with a stiff double kick to his friend's stomach that sent Syaoran flying into Neville.

"_**You're not here to collect on that are you?**_" the raven haired boy asked in clear Japanese.

Neville and Syaoran quickly disentangled themselves, conceding the early morning bout.

"_**Of course not**_," the brown haired boy replied, "_**you're just lucky no one got a good look at you two, though the Master does have a history in that part of China**_."

"_**Just one more country he's probably not allowed in**_," Neville sighed.

Syaoran nodded, "_**But China's a big country**_."

Standing up, he bowed to Ranma and Neville. Grabbing his bottle of water he quickly splashed the taller boy. "**So when were you going to tell me about this?**"

* * * * *

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed as she spotted the sandy haired boy returning to the common room.

Said boy looked up, slightly surprised that there was anyone awake at this pre-dawn hour. He had hoped to be able to sneak into the baths before anyone else was up. It didn't' help that he was soaked through because of his friend, or that his clothes looked a bit singed. Not to mention the grass and mud stains.

"What happened to your face?!" the bushy haired girl asked.

Neville blinked. Stopping to look at his reflection he noticed the dark purple welt. No wonder that was hurting.

"Morning practice," he said, not even daring to touch the painful looking welt. It had to have happened when Ranma kicked Syaoran into him.

"The clubs haven't even started yet," the excited girl proclaimed.

Neville shrugged, "Who said anything about the clubs?"

"Oy, what happened to you?" Fred (or was it George?) asked as he emerged from the stairs that lead up to the boy's dormitories.

"Looks like you were secretly practicing for Quidditch," the other twin whistled.

Harry and Ron were the next to appear as the now virtually inseparable pair was slowly getting ready for the day. One look was all Harry needed.

"Did you at least get a few good shots on Ranma?"

Neville shook his head, "No, but I got Li before Ranma got us both."

"What were you doing?!" Hermione hissed.

"Martial arts," Neville and Harry said at the same time.

"There's no way I'm ever going to train with you two, er, three," Harry said.

"I may not be able to fly as good as you," Neville grumbled as he headed towards the stairs, "but at least I won't lose to a Bludger."

* * * * *

The shower was good. By the time Neville had finished cleaning up the swelling had gone down and only a slight discoloration remained of the hideous welt he'd received that morning. Yes, he and Ranma had always managed to heal quickly after even the most rigorous sparring session with the Master.

Breakfast was, well, breakfast. Both Japanese raised boys were getting used to not eating instant ramen for breakfast, not to mention using forks and spoons. But at least the bacon, sausage, and eggs were good, though they did miss having rice with their meal. Even Syaoran was not having any difficulty with the shiny utensils.

"Schedules," Professor McGonagall said as she charmed the sheets of parchment to land before the students in her house.

"Schedules," the Hufflepuff Prefect stated as he handed out the Hufflepuff first years their schedules.

"Double Transfiguration," Syaoran announced so that Neville could hear.

At least Gryffindor's table was beside Hufflepuff's, allowing the three to sit back to back during breakfast.

"Double Potions today," Neville replied.

"With the Slytherins," Harry added.

"Ravenclaw," Ranma interjected.

"At least your house doesn't hate them," Ron somehow managed through a mouthful of toast and sausage.

"We're thinking of putting together a dueling club, care to join?" Ranma asked as he stabbed a piece of toast with his fork.

Neville grinned, "Sure."

"You're starting up a club?" Hermione interjected. "Why not just join an existing club?"

"Nothing good," the raven haired boy stated. "We need something to keep our reflexes sharp. Maybe dueling or possibly exploring the Forbidden Forest."

"But going into the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden," the bushy haired girl stated.

"Only if we go by ourselves, but if we go with the staff or the grounds keeper…"

"Hagrid can't be the advisor for a club, he's not really staff," Harry objected.

"Yeah, we figured that," Li stated. "That's why we're going with just the Dueling Club."

"We'll see you guys at lunch," Ranma said as he spotted Ernie and Justin grabbing their things. "We're gonna go get our books then head to class."

Neville simply nodded, waiting for his dorm mates to finish breakfast before they headed out to their first class together. Only Hermione appeared to be prepared, though she also was carrying all of her books. After finally convincing Ron to stow several plates of food so that he could continue eating as they headed back up to Gryffindor Tower and retrieve their things, the boy barely managed to make it down to the dungeons as the doors to the potions room opened.

Despite their apparent dislike for the Slytherins and the fact that this class was being taught by the Slytherin Head of House, the brave Gryffindors filed into the dark classroom. Several even dared to take seats at the front of the class – well, only because the Slytherins had filed in first and claimed the seats at the back of the class, all the better to stab the backs of those in front of them.

For his part Neville really didn't have the attention span necessary to keep up with Professor Snape's long lecture, fortunately for him Genma had decided that purchasing a pair of Quick Quills for both himself and Ranma had been a good idea, allowing Neville to focus on the greasy haired professor as he strode through the room, lecturing about the importance of potions brewing.

"Who can tell me what the significance of a bezoar is?" Professor Snape asked.

Much to his surprise Neville raised his hand as did Harry and Hermione.

"Mister Longbottom," the dark eyes of the professor focused on the sandy haired boy.

"It is a universal antidote against any poison, be the poison brewed or natural," Neville replied.

"And where would you find one?" Professor Snape asked, clearly surprised that any first year would know the answer.

"Usually in the stomach, but the ones found in a goat's stomach are said to be the best," the sandy haired boy stated. "But the best is probably the one found in an alligator's stomach as they will eat almost anything and tend to eat almost anything thus giving them a large range of immunities."

Professor Snape paused, intrigued by the answer.

"What is the difference between Aconitum and wolfsbane?"

Again Neville raised his hand.

"Miss Granger," the professor called out.

"They are the same plant, though just different names for it," the bushy haired girl replied.

Even with the Slytherins sitting behind him, Neville could tell that the snakes weren't happy with how the Gryffindors were apparently showing them up.

"Who can tell me what the difference between a brew and a concoction is?"

The sound of several hands being raised told Neville that the Slytherins were done with being shown up.

"Miss Parkinson."

"A brew is a liquid mixture made by steeping, soaking, or boiling solid ingredients in water," the dark haired girl stated. "A concoction is simply a mixture of ingredients."

"Five points to Slytherin."

Neville quickly moved to silence a clearly upset Ron as the redhead moved to protest the clear display of favoritism. Glaring at the redhead he shook his head.

The rest of the class went that way as Professor Snape asked various questions and awarding points to Slytherin for any correctly answered questions while docking points from the Gryffindors for any incorrectly answered ones. By the end of the double lesson all but Hermione and Neville were seething at the obvious disparity and favoritism.

"I can't believe he docked us points just because only the three of you got the right answers," the grumpy Ron grumbled. Clearly his irritation was not because he was hungry, though it might account for part of it as the Gryffindors headed up to the Great Hall for lunch.

"They're Slytherins," Harry replied. "They lie and they cheat – it's what they do. My dad and godfather went to school with Professor Snape and they said that he was like this all the time – always railing against the Gryffindors and always siding with the Slytherins."

"What do we have after lunch?" Dean asked as he stowed checked over his cauldron and potions supplies.

"History of Magic," Seamus replied as he looked over their schedule. "Then a break before basic Arithmancy."

"At least we get to take a nap," Ron yawned. "Fred says that Professor Binns is a ghost and he just drones and drones. The twins are almost always asleep during it if they're not plotting something."

"We're going to need that nap," Harry added, "We've got Astronomy tonight."

The other boys groaned. Their first day was far from over.

* * * * *

The pre-dawn sky slowly brightened as the sun threatened to rise in the east. Thick mist and fog filled the courtyard, making it that much harder for the three youngsters to find each other. As expert fighters they were each trained to remain silent and to hide their presence from others and the mist helped them stay hidden even from each other.

The silence was eating away at Ranma. Though he preferred to fight like this the young Saotome heir was used to taunting his opponents. Unfortunately that technique didn't work very well against Neville or Syaoran, but he was still the best of the three.

In truth Ranma looked forward to the morning sparring as it was the only time he really was able to cut loose and excel like he knew he could. Unlike Syaoran or Neville whose families had long traditions in magic Ranma was a martial artist born and bred. Though he was able to break down techniques after just seeing them a few times he couldn't apply the same rule to magic. Simply repeating the same motions as the professors didn't produce the same results for the raven haired boy. His technique was flawless, but the results were less than desirable.

The sudden appearance of a fist cutting through the mist was instinctively countered with a kick to his unseen opponent's stomach that forced the other boy to break off the attack. A swift sweep though kept Neville from getting away cleanly, sending him sprawling into the dew covered grass.

Charms and Transfiguration had been, well, about as bad a failure as Ranma could have. It didn't matter that only Hermione Granger had managed to silence the stupid crow or that only Padma had been the only one in their class to turn the nickel coin into a pewter figurine. What mattered to Ranma was that he wasn't able to do it. He was supposed to become a man amongst men, but could he be that if he couldn't be the first to do things or the one to do it the best? Maybe, but he had to be the one who could do the most things which currently was, well nothing but martial arts. And according to Professor Quirrell reflexes were good, but they could only take him so far against a trained witch or wizard as even the fastest of fighters couldn't continue to avoid a barrage of hexes and curses forever, not to mention that there were witches and wizards who could enchant weapons so that they never missed.

Ducking under a flying back kick Ranma countered by grabbing Li's gi. Swinging the smaller boy around, he slammed him into the ground before flipping over and then throwing Li into bush - the fact that Li had grabbed hold of his sleeve, throwing him off balance as he released the boy and fought to free himself from the brown haired magi.

The small opening was just enough for Neville to dash in with a sliding tackle, taking Ranma's feet out from underneath him. Lacking Ranma's speed, the sandy haired boy used his greater pain tolerance to his advantage ad he allowed the smaller boy to kick him as he wrapped his own legs around the other boy's left leg. Grabbing hold of his ankle he twisted even as he pinned the other boy in the damp grass and ground.

Sharp, stabbing pain lanced through Ranma's leg, prompting him to kick Neville harder as he tried to free himself from the leg lock. Unwilling to admit to being careless, he continued to lash out at his opponent, forgetting that Li was still around.

Only a kick to the back of the head reminded him of that fact as the Hong Kong mage stood over the two boys.

"_**I'm disappointed in you Ranma - you're distracted**_," a sagely voice stated.

The three young fighters quickly scrambled to their feet as they turned to face the Master.

"How?" Li gaped.

"_**I'm not really here**_," the diminutive figure of Master Happosai said as he glanced over his shoulder. Something about his image though was, well, off. The old man appeared, well, shiny and silvery.

The three youngsters looked at the second shadowy figure.

"_**This is Lyxander**_," the image of the ancient grandmaster stated. "_**He will help train you in the style of magic that I helped create.**_"

Li blinked. "_**You created a style of magic?**_"

"_**Of course**_," Happosai sighed. "_**After I had my wand snapped I had to do something. Did you really expect me to try to practice a style that I was banned from using or couldn't use because I didn't have a wand? Of course not – I created my own style of magic, just as I did my own style of martial arts. Fortunately you two know the basics of the martial arts style, which will make it that much easier for you to learn my magical style.**_

"_**Like your ancestor before you, I combined different styles of magic to create my own style**_," Happosai explained. "_**Western witches and wizards don't use this style even though it's very powerful. Yes, it may not be as powerful as some of the spells you can do with a wand, but it should help you learn the basics of Western magic as well**_."

The boys nodded.

"_**But to learn the basics of my style you'll have to learn Elvish magic. Lyxander will secretly teach you Elvish magic. Once I am satisfied with your progress you'll learn my style over the holidays.**_"

Again the three boys nodded. They had until the holidays to reach the unspoken level that Happosai wanted them to achieve if they wanted to learn his mysterious style.

"_**Li,**_" Happosai said as he turned to Hong Kong mage, "_**I'll need you to work with Ranma so that he masters the basics of Western magic.**_"

The brown haired boy nodded.

"_**Though you may be in a separate house**_," the old man turned to his great-grandson, "_**your friends are still nearby. If you need something feel free to contact Lyxander for anything else you might need. He will assist you as he can**_."

Neville nodded.

"_**Good**_," Happosai sighed. "_**I really have to get going**_."

"_**Wait**_," the sandy haired boy exclaimed, "_**you once attended **_Hogwarts_**, right?**_"

The fake Happosai nodded. "_**I was a **_Ravenclaw_** of course. Still, I expected you both to fall in where you did. But Li, I honestly didn't know where you'd end up. **_Hufflepuff_** is a good house, but you will have to work three times as hard as others just to prove yourself**_.

"_**Oh, and Neville my boy, you must learn to use your cursed form. Master it and become used to it for you may find that that body gives you certain advantages that your normal body does not have."**_

* * * * *

The warm afternoon sun shone down on the green field as the gathered first year students, Heads of House, and a few older students gathered for what would officially be the first attempt at flying by the new students. True, some of the young witches and wizards from magical families probably had ridden a broom before, but officially none were supposed to have done so. And for those who hadn't ridden a broom before, well, the first time was always the most memorable – for them and their spectators.

Over sixty students stood beside the gathered brooms – all donated to the school and some showing their age.

"Is that a Cleansweep 7?" Ron grumbled as he looked at the broom he stood beside.

"It's a broom, right?" Neville replied.

"But it's a Cleansweep – at least you got a newer Comet," the redhead lamented.

Ranma looked at the boys across from him, then at their respective brooms. The shafts were clearly different as Ron's was slightly bowed while Neville's appeared to be straight. The bristles on Ron's broom appeared to be made of twigs while Neville's broom was straw.

"Comets are faster, but they don't last as long as a Cleansweep," Harry explained.

"You got a Nimbus 1900," Ron whined.

"Well, I did stand over here for a reason," the messy haired boy stated with a smirk.

"You've got a Flash 700," Ron stated as he looked at the golden yellow stained wooden handle of the broom at Ranma's feet. "Li's got a Golden Arrow."

Harry snickered. "There's a reason why they don't make those anymore."

Syaoran looked at the battered broom by his feet – noting the worn varnish and the bristles were made of broom corn, though several bristles stood out as they were bent at odd angles. It actually looked like a modern broom, which made Syaoran think twice about the selection he'd made.

"Alright," Madam Hooch, the flying instructor and former Quidditch player called out, silencing the first years, "hold your hands out over your brooms – good. Now, command the broom to come to your hand by saying 'Up'!"

"Up!" the students chorused.

Only Harry and Ranma were rewarded on their first attempt as their respective brooms shot up to their hands.

"Up!"

Ron's broom shook while Hermione's rolled away from her. Li's broom stood up at a 30 degree angle then fell back down while Neville's buried its head into the ground.

"Up!"

Seamus' broom appeared to be wiggling away from him while Dean's rose a few centimeters off the ground before colliding with his shin violently.

"Ow!"

Several Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors smirked.

"Up!"

Dean's broom once again assaulted him while Susan's rolled over towards Hermione's broom.

"Up!"

Neville's broom stood up, the handle gently resting in Neville's hand. Suddenly the broom was airborne sans Neville, though only for a meter before it crashed to the ground.

"Up!"

Draco's broom slowly levitated up to his hand.

"Up!"

Li's broom reluctantly floated up to his hand, circling around him twice on the way to his palm.

Ron's stood up, hitting him squarely in the face with the handle while Dean's hit him in the side.

"Up!"

Goyle's broom floated nearly a meter before dropping back to the ground.

"Up!"

Neville's broom stood up before gently levitating into his hand.

"Up!"

Ron's broom reluctantly flew into his hand, shaking violently as it resisted the redhead's grip.

"Up!"

Ernie, Susan and Hermione's brooms levitated slowly into their hands.

Over the next couple of minutes the other students managed to control their brooms, convincing them to levitate up to their outstretched hands.

"Good," the grey haired witch said as she nodded at Padma Patil, the last student to get a hold of her broom. Grabbing her broom the flight instructor nodded at the other heads of house, each one grabbing their respective brooms before marching before their houses. "Now, your Heads of House will show you how to properly mount your broom."

Swinging a leg over the wooden shaft she gripped the handle tightly with both hands. "Good," she said as she watched several students mount their brooms. Holding her broom with one hand she reached for her whistle, "Now, when I count to three and blow my whistle I want you all to kick off the ground."

Turning around she glanced at each of the Heads of Houses, each of which nodded at her.

"One… two… three…" she blew on the whistle as sixty plus sets of feet kicked off the ground.

Having already ridden a broom Neville found that the second time around things were much easier. As a group the first years flew around the grounds with their Heads of House making sure that no one fell behind or goofed off too much.

After an hour of flying the students were allowed to fly freely around the field, throwing around quaffles and even chasing after an enchanted ball that one of the older students had as some of the older students joined their younger siblings.

"You guys want to play Quidditch?" Fred shouted as he and George pulled out the practice set. "Hufflepuff against Gryffindor."

"I'm game," Cedric said as he flew at the head of the older Hufflepuffs. "But who's going to be Gryffindor's seeker?"

"I will," Harry said boldly. "My dad was seeker when he was at Hogwarts - he's shown me a few things."

Cedric nodded. "Ernie, Hannah, Justin, Susan, Syaoran, Ranma," he turned to the remaining Hufflepuffs "we've got just enough for two beaters, three chasers and a keeper."

"I'll play keeper," Ranma stated.

"Beater," Li volunteered.

"Beater," Justin nodded.

"We'll be the beaters," Fred and George smirked as they eyed their counterparts.

"Neville, Seamus, Dean, you wanna be chasers?" the other twin asked.

"That leaves me as Keeper," Ron nodded. "We're going to need better brooms."

"Oy, Padma, Parvati, Granger," Seamus shouted, "can we trade brooms with you?"

* * * * *

"You saw him fly," the tall, lean and slightly muscular boy stated, "and you know that we need a seeker."

"Be that as it may Oliver," the strict witch said as she looked over the four young Gryffindors, "Mr. Potter is a first year. We would need permission from his parents as well as from Professor Dumbledore before he could have a broom at Hogwarts. Of course I will petition Professor Dumbledore myself."

Harry couldn't help but smirk. Now his dad had to buy him the new Nimbus 2000.

* * * * *

"He's the best keeper we'll ever have," the compact girl stated as she stood before the dumpy and earthy smelling Professor Sprout. "None of the Gryffindors were able to get anything past him during the pick up game and even Mason, McCormack, and I couldn't get score a goal against him.

The stout Herbology Professor and Head of Hufflepuff eyed her team. As head of Hufflepuff she knew that none of the players would dare lie to her about the merits of any possible players. Yes, they might lie about sneaking into the boy's dorm or vice versa, but not about Quidditch. Looking at her young captain the professor knew better than to doubt young Cora Lynch's assessment in regards to Quidditch. "He's that good?"

"He'd be a better seeker," the dishwater blond stated, "but we've already got Diggory and right now we need a keeper. He can take a hit too. The few times a bludger even came close to hitting him he just shrugged it off before knocking the quaffle away from the hoops."

The tall seeker nodded. "That Potter is going to be a force though," he conceded. "Give him a good broom and a year or two and he's going to be the best seeker Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Now you're being too modest," Professor Sprout said as she shook her head. "This your first full year as seeker, I'm going to need you to close out a match and if young Mr. Saotome is as good as you say you catching the snitch will be a definite win for Hufflepuff.

"I'll petition Professor Dumbledore myself once you inform Ranma's parents."

* * * * *

Word of two first years starting for their respective Quidditch teams quickly spread through Hogwarts.

"Saotome's playing Keeper for Hufflepuff – is he any good?"

"I heard that he stopped anything that the Gryffindors threw at him. Even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw chasers didn't get anything past him."

"Wasn't it just a pick up game?"

"Yeah, but then the actual house teams showed up and tested him."

"I heard that Potter nearly beat Diggory for the snitch."

"Yeah, give him a decent broom and he's a great flier."

"I heard his dad was asked to try out for English Team."

"I heard that too, but with the war with You-Know-Who he decided against joining the team."

"It'll be great if someone finally beats Slytherin."

"They've won for what, seven years now?"

"Six actually, and everyone knows that the house that takes the Quidditch Cup is always favored to win the House Cup."

Draco Malfoy scowled as he marched past the crowd of students. He was a Malfoy dammit – why the hell weren't they all talking about him? He was as good… no, he was a better seeker than Potter, and who cared about keeper? It was the seeker who could score 150 points for their team in one fell swoop. Only bad teams lost because of bad keeping and scoring.

But once his father heard about how the stupid Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were starting first years he'd be assured a spot on the Slytherin team. And when Slytherin won the Quidditch Cup and House Cup no one would care about Potter or Saotome.

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Yes, Ranma and Syaoran in Hufflepuff. Ranma might want to be the best and a man amongst men, but he's lacking in magical talent, at least right now. Syaoran's a hard worker and very loyal. He can be brave, but he isn't foolishly brave like the typical Gryffindor. I was debating having him in the Neville mold but I needed someone to keep Ranma company and to keep Neville isolated a bit. Besides, I've always seen Syaoran and Ranma as Hufflepuffs, though Ranma could be a Ravenclaw…

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes –

I do not own Ranma ½, Harry Potter or Card Captor Sakura. Wish I did because then I wouldn't have to do the 9-5… Still, this is a work of fan fiction written for the sole intent of the enjoyment of the readers and not for any sort of profit or gain (other than to stroke my own ego, which would really be inflated if I did actually own/create any of the characters, ideas, or concepts borrowed from those three series).

* * * * *

After a full two weeks of classes, Neville had to admit that he was looking forward to Wednesdays. The double Charms lessons with the Hufflepuffs and then an afternoon in the green houses for Herbology with the Ravenclaws were the only two classes that Neville really looked forward to. Sure, he did okay in Potions (double lessons on Mondays and Thursdays with the Slytherins) but that was only because his years of traveling and studying with the Master had engrained in him a need to know basic (and slightly advanced) potion making. Herbology thought was the one class Neville really enjoyed and being able to spend an afternoon in the green houses around all those plants just made Neville feel very relaxed.

"Go!" Ranma shouted at his statuette. "Knock him down and throw him over the side!"

Yes, that relaxation was always necessary after dealing with Ranma in Charms. Neville could only watch in abject terror as his own statuette was picked up by Ranma's. "We're supposed to be racing!"

The sound of iron hitting the wooden table top rang through the room as Ranma's tiny statue threw Neville's off the race track.

"He never said that we couldn't eliminate our competition," Ranma smirked.

"I guess you're right," Li stated as his figurine grabbed Harry's barely moving figurine and threw it at Hermione's, tripping her figurine up.

"That's cheating!" Ron shouted in protest. "That's so… so… Slytherin!"

"Get them!" Seamus and Dean shouted, commanding their figurines to attack Ranma's and Syaoran's. The two lumbering figurines instead turned on each other.

"See what you started?" Neville asked as he turned on Ranma.

"Very clever," the diminutive Professor Flitwick exclaimed as he watched the brawl break out between his students' charmed figurines. As Head of Ravenclaw the Charms instructor always tried to make his students think outside the box. "You're the first person to ever notice that technicality in the rules for the race – five points to Hufflepuff."

Ranma grinned like a maniac at the praise and reward.

The simple charm that animated the metal figurines wasn't hard, but it did require a bit of concentration. Though the suits of armor throughout Hogwarts were able to move, they did so because they had absorbed the ambient magic that was rampant through the castle. While the suits could move, they usually only did so when prompted by the superior will of one of the teachers or at the Headmaster's command, though they were know to swat at students who tried to draw on them.

The small figurines on the other hand were only capable of retaining a bit of magic, but depending on the castor of the spell they could move faster or further away from their controller. Few first years ever managed to get their figures past the starting line, and fewer still were able to get them to the end of the race track, but to see the handful of figurines actively fighting, well, that was interesting indeed.

Neville's charmed figurine managed to climb back onto the track. Ignoring all the other figures it walked past the starting line once again, avoiding the fighting between Dean and Seamus' figurines.

"Excellent," Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Ten points to Mr. Potter."

"What?!" Hermione screeched.

"As you can see, his figure clearly crossed the finish line first," the professor stated, "even though it was with the help of someone else's figurine."

Hermione glared at Syaoran.

"Five points to you Miss Granger for crossing the finish line."

Ranma smirked. He'd gotten just as many points for starting the brawl as Hermione did for coming in second.

"Five more points to Mr. Longbottom," Professor Flitwick added as Neville's figurine collapsed on the line.

"Five points to Mr. Li as well."

Li smirked as he earned points for Hufflepuff. "Thirty one to twenty two," the brown haired boy stated as he glanced at the raven haired boy.

"Alright," the tiny professor exclaimed as he returned to his desk, "keep working on the animator charm. By the next class I want everyone to be able to animate a dozen figures. You're going to have a relay race with your figurines. I'll make sure to have a nice obstacle course set up for you."

The distant bells told them that the period was over.

Grabbing their things the gathered students quickly vacated the classroom. Some headed back to their respective dorms, others headed out to the open grounds to enjoy the warm sunlight of the warm mid autumn day.

After only two weeks of lessons from Lyxander, Ranma had made significant progress in his lessons. Though most passed it off as nerves and possibly the language barrier, Neville and Li knew otherwise.

"_**You used a different charm on it, didn't you?**_" Neville asked as he fell in step beside his two friends.

"I've just been practicing the animator charm," he replied coolly. "But since I got the basic principles of the charm down I know how the spell works now, regardless of the version of the spell."

"So how's Quidditch?" Neville asked, quickly changing the subject. With Syaoran tutoring Ranma in the mechanics of magic Ranma really was catching on quickly. At least in Charms and Defense Against Dark Arts – transfiguration was another thing altogether.

Ranma shrugged. "It's different. There's not much that I really do other than knock balls down."

"They haven't scored a point against him," Li stated. "But at least it gives me time to work on my own homework."

"You mean write your love letters to Sa-ku-ra," Ranma deftly jumped over a playful sweep by the brown haired boy.

"Syaoran's got a girlfriend?" Dean interjected as he joined the conversation.

"Ew!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ranma's engaged," Li stated, quickly shifting the conversation away from himself. He really didn't understand why the Westerners made such a big deal about relationships at such a young age. Then again, Ranma's relationships were a bit odd.

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ranma immediately jumped on the bushy haired girl, keeping her quiet as he clapped his hand over her mouth.

Dean and Seamus simply forced their own hands over their mouths to keep from shouting out loud. Having seen the welts that Neville had in the mornings neither boy wanted to mess with Ranma or Syaoran over such a sensitive subject.

"You tell anyone, and I'll hex you," Ranma glared at Hermione, then at Dean, Seamus and Ron. "And you," he turned on Syaoran who simply returned his glare, "I'll never tease you about Sakura again."

Syaoran had only the slightest of smiles on his otherwise impassive face.

The group walked in tense silence into the Great Hall.

"Oy, mail's here," Ron exclaimed as he spotted Harry's distinctive white owl on the Gryffindor table.

While the Gyrffindors headed towards Hedwig and the package at her feet the Hufflepuffs seated themselves by their friends at their table.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as he picked up the package. "My broom's here!"

"So's mine," Ranma said as he opened the box before him.

"Mine's a Nimbus 2000," Harry smirked.

"There's one for you too Neville," Ranma stated, not sure what to make of the broom.

Li positively stared at Neville's broom. "Skyfire," he said, reading the Chinese characters on the shaft of the broom.

Ron's mind boggled, "Skyfire?! They still sell Skyfires!"

The handful of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs approached the group of first years.

"What's this about a Skyfire?" Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, asked as he stood over the group.

Neville and Ranma held up their brooms.

"That's a Skyfire…" Cedric exclaimed breathlessly. "I heard that they stopped selling those since the maker retired. He's made each one by hand personally."

"Wow," the dishwater blond captain of the Hufflepuff team exclaimed, "those look unused."

"Looks like we've gotta head back to our rooms," Harry said as he eyed Neville's Skyfire. The Nimbus was good, but the Skyfire, well, that was what the professionals all wanted not what they used. It was sort of like comparing what the Chuddy Cannons used compared to what the Chinese National Team Used.

"I get to ride it later, right?" Ron asked as he walked beside Harry.

"Mine or his?" Harry asked.

"Both," the redhead said hopefully.

"Maybe," Neville replied, "but I do need some help writing up that Defense Against the Dark Arts essay."

"And that transfiguration essay," Harry added.

* * * * *

In the seven years that Professor Snape had been the Head of House for Slytherin he had grown comfortable with his position. Not only did it allow him to keep in touch with the wealthy houses like Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, and McNair, but it also allowed him to remain impartial in the complicated politics that flowed within those houses and his house. While the Malfoy name was certainly one to be considered, it clearly could did not have the pull that it once did.

Case in point was the fact that Lucius Malfoy was personally petitioning to have his son allowed on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Unfortunately everyone in the Slytherin knew that Severus hated Quidditch and thus left the politics that were involved with his house team to the captain. Unfortunately the captain of the team was not always determined by him, nor was it determined by the current captain of the team. No, talent had little to do with who was named captain of the squad. The politics behind the house of snakes dictated who the captain would turn the badge over to the following year or once the current captain vacated his position.

While the Malfoy family was a heavy hitter in general, they held little sway over who was allowed to play for the Slytherin team. Yes, the donation of Nimbus 2001s, which were not currently sold anywhere, had helped secure Draco Malfoy a spot as the reserve seeker for Slytherin, but it had not been enough to convince the others that young Draco deserved to start as Seeker. Not only was he untested, but the current seeker, Terence Higgs came from a family with a strong pedigree of fielding quality Quidditch players. Trevor Higgs, Terence's father, was in fact a reserve seeker for the English National Team the previous summer during the World Cup in Brazil and had even caught the snitch in England's loss to Bulgaria. When matched against that, there was no way that Draco Malfoy would be able to unseat the Seventh year Slytherin.

Though Professor Snape rarely ever involved himself in the Quidditch affairs of his house, he did insist that no one dare to interfere with his team as they had won the Quidditch Cup the past seven years and helped Slytherin win and maintain the House Cup for those same seven years.

Looking over the new roster (they had to replace their keeper as Samuel Vance had graduated the previous spring) and the list of reserve players (one reserve per position for a total team roster of 11 students) Severus sighed. How he truly hated Quidditch.

* * * * *

The Gryffindors were grateful for the free study period after their Double Herbology class as most did not want to spend dinner smelling like fertilizer or dirt. Quickly returning to Gryffindor tower for a quick rinse wasn't easy for Neville though. Not only did he have to remove his water repelling charm, but he had to quickly replace it without anyone noticing. Fortunately it was much easier for him to slip the eastern charm off and on without anyone really noticing. But at least the quick bath kept the others from asking about riding his new broom.

Gathering his things he quickly he rushed to keep up with Harry and Ron as Dean and Seamus had rushed ahead already.

"Do you really think he's going to try it?" Harry asked Ron as the boy whose hair always looked windblown walked beside his tall best friend.

"Seamus is pretty thick," the tall redhead replied. "And he has been trying to get that spell for a while."

"You don't think he'll blow anything up this time, do you?" Neville asked as he caught up with the pair.

The other boys looked at each other.

"We better hurry," Harry stated. "We don't want to be stuck sitting next to Seamus just because all the other spots are taken."

The trio quickly set off for the study room. Though there were plenty of other empty classrooms and study rooms the first year Gryffindors had taken to using the two floors up from the Great Hall as it provided them with a great view of the lake over the Forbidden Forest and was relatively close to their classes. It was also close enough to the Great Hall that the house elves had taken to leaving left overs from lunch as treats and pitchers of pumpkin juice for the Gryffindors, thus making it a very desirable room.

If the older students could be believed there were rooms where the elves left butter beer and cedar, but none of the older Gryffindors would tell the first years where those rooms were. There was even a room where one could get anything they desired.

Unfortunately none of the younger students were confident in their knowledge of the castle's layout. That and the fact that that room was a relatively easy room to get to at that time of day made the room very desirable to the young first years as they didn't want to get lost in the school. Though only a few rooms had professors watching over the students (usually for those students who wanted extra help from their respective professors), they knew that they had to be in one of the study rooms for the duration of the free study period.

Reaching the semi-secluded room, the trio of boys was resigned to their fate sitting across from Seamus as he tried to turn the pumpkin juice into rum.

"Oy, leave me some juice," Ron exclaimed as he grabbed the pitcher and a spare goblet. Pouring himself a liberal portion, he offered the pitcher to Neville.

The sandy haired boy grabbed a goblet before pouring himself some juice, passing on the ceramic pitcher to Harry afterwards.

"Eye of rabbit," Seamus said as he waved his wand over the goblet of juice, "harp string's hum, turn this water"

"Shouldn't you actually try to use eye of rabbit and harp string's hum?" Neville speculated, interrupting Seamus' attempt to turn water into rum. "Why invoke those things just to turn water into rum? And shouldn't you be trying that on water, not pumpkin juice?"

Seamus looked at Dean, the dark skinned boy simply shrugged.

"Eye of rabbit, harp string's hum – turn this water into rum!" Seamus shouted as he flourished his wand, tapping the goblet with the tip of his wand.

The resulting explosion startled all of the young Gryffindors.

"This is why I don't want to sit next to you," Harry shouted as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Neville!" Hermione shouted. "Harry!"

The two boys pulled themselves to their feet.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed as he eyed the shattered pitcher of juice.

"I'm never going to sit next to you again mate," Dean coughed as he eyed his best mate.

Neville shook his head. "Remind me to never have rum with you."

"Sorry mate," Seamus apologized as he looked at the remains of the pitcher of juice and his mangled goblet.

"Ew," Ron grumbled as he just realized that he was covered in pumpkin juice. "I think I need to change."

Harry nodded his head, his normally wild hair now clinging to his head as the juice weighed him down. Still, he and Ron hadn't taken the worst of it.

"You alright Neville?" a clearly concerned Lavender Brown asked as she looked at the sandy haired boy.

Looking down at himself Neville shrugged. Though he had avoided getting any juice spilled on him his robes looked like they had been used to put out a small fire. Checking himself he nodded, "Yeah, but I think I'll need to change again before dinner."

The three boys grabbed their things, carefully making sure that no more juice spilled onto their books. As first years they had yet to learn the necessary charm to clean themselves. With none of the older students around the messy boys were forced to return to their dorm room to change.

Reaching the central tower Neville sighed. "Looks like they've changed," he announced. Even after a few weeks at Hogwarts the three boys hadn't gotten used to the seemingly always changing layout of the moving staircases.

"I think we take this to the fourth floor then go down the western hallway to that staircase down to the third floor," Harry suggested as he pointed to another hallway. "Then we go up those stairs up to the fifth floor before we take the secret passage behind the portrait of the three knights up to the seventh floor."

Neville tried to mentally map their path, not completely sure about Harry's directions. Seeing that the other boys had already set off though, he had little choice but to follow them as they set off towards Gryffindor tower.

Their trek went smoothly up until the reached the third floor as the stairs shifted again.

"Why don't we head down the hallway?" Ron suggested. "There's another set of stairs over there that heads up to the fourth floor and those stairs lead up to the sixth floor, then we take the secret passage in the eastern hallway up to the eight floor then pass by McGonagall's office before heading straight up to the dorms."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Outnumbered, Neville had little choice but to follow.

"Just where are you three going?" a slightly familiar voice called out.

The boys quickly turned around to face the bushy haired girl.

"We're headed back up to the dorms," Ron stated defensively.

"Well you're going the wrong way," the intelligent witch stated. "You're supposed to go down this corridor than up to the sixth floor then take the western hallway to the secret passage up to eighth floor before taking the stairs to the portrait of the fat lady in the main corridor."

Now thoroughly confused, Neville shook his head, as did the other boys.

"You go your way, we're going ours," Ron stated as he led Harry back down the dark corridor.

Shaking her head, Hermione simply chased after the boys.

The familiar yet annoying meowing told them that they weren't alone.

"It's Miss Norris," Harry hissed. "If Filch catches us outside of the study room we're going to get detention."

"Go!" Hermione urged the boys as she pointed to a door. "There!"

As the quickest of the group Neville reached the door first, only to find it locked. "It's locked," he stated as he pulled out his wand.

"Alohomora!" Hermione exclaimed as she pointed her wand at the door.

Tugging at the door Neville opened it with ease, allowing the foursome to sneak into the locked room.

"'Alohomora'?" the redhead asked as he turned on the bushy haired girl.

"If you actually read through the Standard Book of Spells you'd know that the charm opens locks and any doors locked by Colloportus," Hermione explained.

"Um," Harry tried to interrupt.

"I think there's something more important," Neville said as he faced off with a three headed dog. The monstrous beast was easily as large as an elephant and the three slobbering and drooling heads and the many sharp teeth in the three sets of mouths made the creature very formidable.

Behind him the other brave Gryffindors were scrambling with the door as the three heads growled. With their focus on the door they failed to notice that the three headed monster lunged at them. Only Neville's instinctively thrown up magical barrier kept the central head from snapping shut on the sandy haired boy and kept the left head from closing on Ron.

Startled, the beast shook its collective heads, allowing the quartet to retreat from the room and slam the door behind themselves.

Ron was panting, almost hyperventilating as he felt the door shake against his back as the beast hit the door once. Harry was equally terrified, though in much better control of his emotions as he tried to control his adrenaline levels. Even Hermione was frazzled by the experience.

Only Neville seemed to take it in stride. "I guess we follow Hermione back to the dorms."

* * * *

It only took him a few weeks, but Neville was slowly starting to enjoy the English food. The large portions of protein were useful to the growing boys even though it had initially been overwhelming. After just a few weeks it was slowly becoming clear to the young martial artist that he would soon need a new set of robes. Vertically he'd grown several two centimeters but it was his muscle mass that was slowly increasing. When he'd first come to England the sandy haired boy had been lean and somewhat tall; now he was a bit bulker with more defined muscles, muscles that were now straining against his once loose robes. If he had to estimate, Neville figured that he'd put on at least five kilos in the past month.

True, it was a modest growth spurt, especially when compared to the massive Crabbe and Goyle in Slytherin, not mention how Ron Weasley was now just as tall as Neville was. Still, it was reason for concern as the sudden weight gain and lengthening of his limbs was throwing him off balance as he sparred with Syaoran and Ranma.

Tripping over his own feet as he took a step back to avoid a spinning round house from Syaoran, Neville barely managed to roll onto his back, minimizing the effect of hitting the compact ground from jarring to simply disorienting. Rolling to his feet he was greeted with a solid kick to the ribs as Syaoran tagged him with a palm strike that sent him flying.

"P-point!" the stuttering Defense Against the Dark Arts professor exclaimed, calling the match.

It had taken the trio two weeks but they had managed to start the dueling club. Though Professor Quirrell was only in his first year of teaching DADA, he was allowed to advise the club, though he had to do so as co-advisor beside Professor Snape. Still, it was better than nothing.

Syaoran quickly walked over to help Neville to his feet. Though the club was not to meet for another half hour the trio of boys felt that it was best to practice before the club actually met as they had little time to spar in the mornings and Ranma had only limited time free due to practicing with the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

Still, they had a minor crowd watching them as other members of the Dueling Club had gathered. Several Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors sat along the edge of the courtyard to watch the trio take turns at sparring.

"Mind if we show you how it's done?" Draco Malfoy asked as he and his goons strode into the courtyard.

Murmurs immediately began to fill the clearing as the gathered watchers began to talk in whispered tones.

"Sure," Ranma replied. He was always open to new challenges.

Malfoy grinned, nodding at Goyle.

The incredible bulk that was the first year Slytherin lumbered into the center of the courtyard towards Ranma.

"I'll take this," Professor Snape announced to Professor Quirrell. The two boys nodded at each other. "Begin!"

Goyle launched himself at Ranma with what most spectators viewed as surprising speed considering his massive size. Unfortunately for him it was dreadfully slow to the raven haired martial artist as Ranma quickly ducked under the punch, tripping Goyle as he slipped past the bigger boy then kicked his large posterior and sent the off balance Slytherin tumbling into the dirt and grass.

"Point," Professor Snape was reluctant to announce.

Ranma nodded at Neville even as Goyle got to his feet.

The taller of the three martial artist stood as Crabbe approached him.

"Begin!"

Rather than rushing in as Goyle had, Crabbe assumed a boxer's stance, pulling his balled fists towards his face while Neville simply stood with his casual guard. Thinking that the smaller boy had not put up any defense the Slytherin jabbed with his left.

Neville didn't flinch as the punch came several centimeters short of his face.

Following the jab with a right cross Crabbe instinctively moved in. The fact that Neville hadn't dodged or even reacted to the feint though threw him off as he aimed his punch for a few centimeters behind where the boy actually stood.

Slipping in behind the retreating jab, Neville grabbed the muscular boy's right as he spun. Kicking his left foot back as he leaned forward, Neville sent the big Slytherin flying overhead. The loud thud as Crabbe crashed into the soft dirt

"Point," Professor Snape tried to call out passively.

Though he offered his hand to the larger boy Neville wasn't surprised when Crabbe waved him off, rolling over before pushing himself to his feet.

Shrugging, Neville caught sight of a very pale Draco Malfoy. Clearly the Malfoy heir did not like his prospects against the Li heir. Moving so that he stood beside Harry, Ron, and Ranma, Neville shook his head.

"He's got his wand," Ranma muttered to the others.

"That's not fair," Harry exclaimed while Ron moved to get the professors' attention.

Neville held onto Ron's sleeve, shaking his head. "Leave it," he urged the redhead.

"Begin!"

The pale blond took a step back as he drew his wand. Unfortunately he wasn't as fast as the brown haired boy as Syaoran rushed in, kicking at Malfoy's wand hand before delivering a swift spinning middle kick that sent Malfoy tumbling across the courtyard.

"Point," Professor Snape hissed.

"E-excellent job," Professor Quirrell stuttered. "That sh-should be enough sp-sparring for today. W-why d-don't you b-boys clean up? W-we'll s-start d-dueling in a m-minute."

* * * * *

With the new students slowly getting bogged down by increased assignments for their classes as they moved beyond the basics Wednesdays was quickly becoming Neville's favorite day. Herbology was quickly becoming his favorite class as he could easily read over the assignments once and quickly understand everything about the plants they were going to be working on. It also helped that he had Charms with the Hufflepuffs, the one class that he actually had with Ranma and Li.

Unfortunately Ranma was making it very hard to enjoy Charms.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" the raven haired boy exclaimed as he flourished his wand at the swan feather.

Though the feather moved, Neville was sure that it was not because Ranma had enchanted it. One of the first lessons that the trio of boys had learned from Lyxander was willing things to move. Moving simple objects like feathers was nothing to them now. Ranma was even at the point where he could stop Li or Neville and throw them back like a Jedi. Thus far the other boys were only able to create a barrier that stopped the other boys' attacks, though they were also able to stop hexes and minor spells; something that Ranma had yet to be able to do.

"Excellent job Mr. Saotome, five points to Hufflepuff," Professor Flitwick exclaimed.

Neville was sure that had the diminutive Head of Ravenclaw not been busy watching Dean flourishing his wand he would have noticed that Ranma was waving his wand just as violently.

Not one to be outdone by his long time friend and training partner, Neville willed the feather back to the desk top.

"But it looks like you flourished your wand a bit," the tiny professor added as the feather landed gently on the desk. "If you want to keep things levitated you'll need to use the proper motions and not just the proper annunciation."

Neville held a straight face as Li took a turn at levitating the feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Li said as he attempted to levitate the feather assigned to him and Hermione.

"No," Hermione protested, "you're pronouncing it wrong – it's Le-vi-_o_-sa, not 'Le-_vio_-sa'."

"You're so smart, you try it," a clearly frustrated Ron Weasley dared as he tried his best not to have his face match his hair color. "With the funny accent."

Clearly the young Weasley wasn't having any success with his own attempt at levitating the feather.

"It's not the annunciation," Li stated as he focused on the task at hand. His understanding of the basics allowed him to float the feather, just as Ranma had done before.

"It's the command," Flitwick finished. "Five points."

With a simple wave of his hand Neville levitated the feather.

"Five points," the professor added as he turned his attention to the sandy haired boy. "An impressive display Mr. Longbottom."

"How did you do that?" Hermione exclaimed.

"I've merely shown you one way to levitate the feather," Flitwick explained. "Clearly the Chinese and Japanese have their own charm for levitation. Five points from Mr. Saotome and Mr. Li for not using the charm that I'm teaching you and one point to Mr. Longbottom for pointing that out to me."

Hermione gawked at the display. The idea that there were other ways to achieve the same result without having to use the same motions simply boggled the bushy haired girl's mind. "But if there are other ways to levitate, why not show us those techniques as well?"

"Because we are showing you the standard way," the clever professor stated. "There are other ways, but learning what is considered the simplest and most basic method is the often the best way to go about teaching it to you. Essentially it is like asking you to start levitating a feather rather than a person – one is obviously easier than the other but practicing on one first allows you to develop the basic skills needed to do the other."

* * * * *

The normally cold stone walls of Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry had taken an oddly festive change overnight. The hundreds of ghosts that inhabited the school were especially energetic and very vibrant, giving off a silvery glow as they flew through the castle.

Still not completely used to the presence of ghosts, the three international students decided to sit out on the lawn rather than deal with the ghosts and one particularly annoying poltergeist.

"So, where did you see a three headed dog?" Ranma asked inquisitively. Clearly the young Hufflepuff was looking for a new challenge.

"Somewhere on the third floor," Neville replied as he followed behind Syaoran. With the weather having taken a turn for the worst the previous week the rare warm and sunny day had also coaxed out a good number of the other students onto the grounds.

"You saw Fluffy?" the towering Hagrid exclaimed as he passed by the three boys.

"Fluffy?" Neville exclaimed.

"The three headed dog," the half-giant said. "Come to mention it, Harry did say that you were with them when he ran across Fluffy. So was that Granger girl."

"Cool," Ranma smirked. "Can we play with Fluffy?"

"Well, normally I'd love to have someone play with Fluffy," the hairy groundskeeper stated, "but he's on guard duty for Professor Dumbledore – oops, I shouldn't have said that…"

The three boys simply shrugged.

"Don't worry Hagrid," Syaoran said, "we won't tell anyone."

"Er, right," Hagrid coughed, "you should get back to the castle – the feast is about to start."

"Feast?" Neville repeated.

"It's Halloween," the big man replied, glad to not be talking about his dog. Seeing the blanks looks on the three international students' faces he shook his head. "It's the night when magic is very powerful and when ghost and spirits are at their most powerful."

The three boys continued to be unimpressed.

"There's a big feast and lots of extra treats."

That was enough to get Ranma interested. "What kind of treats?"

"Pumpkin cakes, sweets, candies, that sort of thing," Hagrid added as he tried to count off the various treats.

That was enough to convince Ranma to hurry back up to the castle.

Shaking their heads, Neville and Syaoran gave chase. They'd definitely have to get some sparring in after the feast.

They trio arrived to find a crowd around the doors to the Great Hall, something that was very unusual as most students simply wandered in as meals dinner was provided over a three hour window to accommodate the schedules of various clubs and team practices. But today was special as the Halloween feast was set for five hours, allowing the students to gorge themselves on the fantastic food that the house elves had prepared for this special occasion. Even though the feast was to last five hours a good majority of the over four hundred students were gathered around the doors to the Great Hall – Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs by the main entrance while Ravenclaws and Slytherins were probably around the side entrances though a few were by the main entrance.

When the doors opened promptly at 5pm the students quickly shuffled in, filling the hall. In moments virtually the entire student body was there.

Excitement was in the air, not only because of the feast, but because the quickly approaching weekend was the first Hogsmead weekend for the third year students (a privilege that the third years and up were allowed) and the first Quidditch match of the year between the rival houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin was scheduled for Sunday.

"My parents and Godfather are going to be coming this weekend," Harry stated excitedly. "They want to see me start my first match."

Ron though was completely focused on the feast laid out before him as he had a roasted turkey drumstick in one hand and a spoon full of pudding in the other. "Yuh?" he somehow managed to get out through a mouth full of food.

"What's this?" Ranma asked between bites of food. Though he had shoveled in as much food as the youngest Weasley boy had few thought about it as the raven haired boy appeared to be immaculate (and his hands moved faster than most people could keep up with).

"Chocolate pudding," Hannah Abbot gaped as she watched Ranma empty the bowl, only to have it refilled in a flash. Somehow the raven haired martial artist was giving even the house elves a run for their money as they struggled to keep the bowls, pitchers, and platters of food before him stocked with food. "And that's a lava cake. Over there are turkey drumsticks, garlic mash potatoes with parmesan cheese, turkey gravy, meatloaf, fish and chips, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pudding, fried chicken, baked chicken with wild rice, cheesy broccoli rice"

Syaoran and Ranma blanched.

"You put cheese on rice?"

Neville made a mental note to avoid that dish. Though he'd had fried rice before, Neville preferred to have his rice white and plain.

Still, there was more than enough food for him to sample and enjoy. Several heaping plates of food later though made him doubt if they really would get any sparring in tonight.

The sudden opening of the great double doors at the main entrance to the Great Hall though drowned out the festive chatter as Professor Quirrell rushed into the Great Hall.

"T-troll in the dungeon!" he shouted. "Troll in the dungeon!"

Everyone else stopped speaking and the atmosphere in the Great Hall suddenly changed.

"I-I thought you should know," the professor stated before collapsing.

Panic and pandemonium ran rampant as the young and impressionable students scrambled. Most rushed for the exits, some grabbed as much food as they could, while others tried to stem the tide and regain control of the situation.

"Quiet!" the Headmaster's powerful, commanding voice called out, drawing everyone's attention and restoring order to the chaos. "Now, Prefects – take your households back to your respective dormitories. Your Head of House will contact you shortly. Professors, to the dungeons."

Neville didn't need to look at Ranma to know what his longtime friend was thinking.

As the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs exited the large double doors to the Great Hall Neville quickly snuck away, joining Ranma and Syaoran in the broom closet.

"This is insane," Li stated as he glared at the others.

"We've beaten trolls before," the confident martial artist stated as he created three invisibility charms for the three of them.

"You're using chocolate icing," Neville remarked.

"It'll work," Ranma replied as he slapped the charm onto Neville's head. Instantly the boy vanished. "It's only temporary," he added. "And it should also allow us to see each other once we all have them on."

Syaoran sighed - this was not going to be good. "Fine."

Ranma smirked, slapping the charm onto Li, allowing him to see both Ranma and Neville. The raven haired boy quickly applied his own charm. Only the glowing chocolate icing on the boys' foreheads signaled that the charms were working.

Exiting the closet they were relieved to see that most of the students were gone, though a few Prefects were still evacuating the Great Hall, making sure that no students were left behind.

"Just where are you going?" Percy Weasley exclaimed.

The three boys stopped. Turning around they glanced at the bossy Weasley. A sigh of relief nearly tipped off their presence as they noted that the elder Weasley was actually addressing Harry and Ron.

"Hermione went down to use the bathroom during the feast," Harry stated. "She doesn't know about the troll."

"Wouldn't she have gone to use the western bathrooms?" the rational redhead asked.

"She left through the main doors," Ron stated. "And we all know that the closest bathrooms to the Great Hall in that direction are in the dungeon."

"Oy!" Fred (or was it George?) exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" the other twin asked as the two trouble makers joined the fray.

"What are you two doing here?" Percy asked.

The twins glanced at each other then at their older brother, "Nothing."

Not wanting to interrupt the siblings (plus Potter) the trio of boys quickly ran down the corridor.

"We have to get her out of there," Neville hissed.

"Didn't she go with Parvati and Lavender?" Ranma asked.

"They came back already," Neville replied.

"Could she have gone up to Gryffindor Tower?" Syaoran asked hopefully.

The distant scream escaped the distant stair well.

Neville drew his wand as he ran ahead of the others. "_**It's only one troll, right? We can take them easily!**_"

Behind them the Weasley boys and Potter followed, completely unaware that the other boys were ahead of them.

The trio rushed down the corridor, down a spiraling stair case and down into the dungeon by the western courtyard.

Another scream greeted them, this time louder and more urgent. The sound of something hitting metal and stone made them run all the harder.

Turning a corner they were greeted with the sight of several suits of armor being batted away by a mighty troll.

"Wow," Ranma exclaimed. "They really grow their trolls big!"

The gray-green skinned monster stood easily four meters tall, his head easily scraping against the ceiling. Forced into a rather confining space it was not able to swing its club with maximum efficiency though it still was able to swat the animated suits of armor away like flies. Unlike the trolls in Japan this one was taller though the majority of its bulk appeared to be fat rather than corded muscle.

Ripping off his charm Neville tried to think of the strongest and most powerful spell. Three steps later and he still couldn't think of a spell that would work against the troll.

A red and black blur zipped by him as Ranma ran past him, somehow having discarded his robe along the way. Running along the stone walls the young and energetic martial artist picked up a spare helm and threw it. His pinpoint accuracy resulted in a solid hit to the back of the troll's head.

A bellowing roar from an irate troll shook the very stone beneath their feet, knocking Ranma from the trembling walls.

Pulling out the handle for his sword Li prepared to use his lethal weapon, a sign that he was prepared to go all out with a weapon that he was more familiar with. A moment of focus was all he needed to conjure the enforced metal blade.

"Get Hermione!" Ranma shouted as he rushed the towering troll.

Neville ran hard, snatching up Hermione just as the troll swung at Ranma. With its arms slowed by the low ceiling the pigtailed boy easily avoided the blow as he jumped aside. Quickly he leapt onto the monster's arm, running up the length of the muscled limb to deliver a sundering kick to the beast's head.

As powerful as the blow was, it clearly wasn't enough to knock this monster out.

Kicking off of the monster's head, Ranma flew through the air, skimming the ceiling as a bolt of lightning hit the creature.

Another bellow of rage filled the dungeon, shaking loose several chunks from the ceiling.

Landing, Ranma grabbed the beast's weapon. Swinging with all his might Ranma clipped the back of the creature's left knee, knocking it backwards. The resulting collision between towering troll and hard stone floor shook the damaged dungeon further.

A swift blow to the creature's head later and the creature was unconscious.

"D-did you…?" George (or was it Fred?) stammered as the first of the two twins appeared.

"W-what's…?" the other twin panted, stopping only to take in the sight.

"What's going on here?" the shrill voice of the Gryffindor Head of House demanded.

The seven Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs turned around to face the Transfiguration instructor.

"Um," Hermione said as she tried to think of something to say.

"We noticed that Hermione had gone to the bathroom during the feast," Neville stated. "She wasn't there when we headed up to the dorm…"

"There weren't any teachers around," Li added.

"So we came down here together," Ranma finished.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "But Ranma, Syaoran and Neville were faster."

Neville's sandy hair bobbed as he nodded. "We got here and Hermione was being chased by the troll. She animated the suits of armor to give buy her some time but it wasn't enough."

"Is that true Miss Granger?" the stern professor asked.

Hermione nodded, "I was on my way out of the loo when I spotted the troll. I tried to run away quietly but I tripped. The troll would have gotten me if not for the boys."

"Really?"

Everyone turned to face Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape as the pair appeared on the other side of the dungeon.

"Ranma ran up its arm and kicked it in the head," Hermione explained. "Then Syaoran hit it with a lightning spell."

Everyone else looked at the young Chinese sorcerer and his meter long blade.

"Y-you u-used a li-lightning sp-spell?" Quirrell stuttered.

Syaoran nodded.

"The sa-same o-one y-you used in the du-dueling club?"

Again the boy nodded, "I didn't think that this beast was that tough, such a spell normally knocks out a troll, but the trolls in England are bigger than in Japan."

"It's a good think Ranma got the club," Neville added.

"You beat the troll with its _own_ club?" Professor Snape said his snide monotone.

The raven haired boy shrugged, "I only hit it in the leg and over the head once - I'm not strong enough to knock that one out in one blow."

"You physically beat a troll with its club?" Professor McGonagall blinked. "Well, one point from each of you for not coming to report to a teacher first. And five points to Mr. Saotome, Mr. Li, and Mr. Longbottom for your quick thinking. Another ten points to Mr. Saotome for defeating the troll."

The boys smirked.

"I must say, it is quite remarkable," a new voice stated. "But now you must all get back to your dorms – I've instructed the House elves to bring some of the treats from the feast to the dormitories and common rooms."

The boys smirked at Professor Dumbledore.

"Now, Professors, if you would take the boys back to their dorms."

The three other professors nodded before heading off, Professor McGonagall leading her Gryffindors up to their dorm while Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell lead the Hufflepuffs to towards Hufflepuff's dorm.

Trailing after the professors, Li shared a look with Ranma, noting the bad bandage that appeared to have been hastily thrown onto Professor Snape's right ankle.

The raven haired boy nodded, then shrugged. That would be a mystery to be answered some other time.

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series.

I have to say, I don't understand why they don't have bench or reserves for the Quidditch teams? Professional teams and other competitive teams (school teams) have benches and reserves that they substitute in for injured or tired starters. I know that Slytherin has fielded different players to suit the weather, so they obviously have players on their bench, but why the hell didn't Gryffindor? Sure, Ginny played Seeker when Harry was suspended, but what about when Harry was out during first year? Or when Wood and some of the Chasers go down against Slytherin? Couldn't they substitute players?

Maybe I just don't understand all the rules of Quidditch, so I apologize if I'm going to butcher it by having back-ups for a majority of the players, but seriously, how do you expect them to sub people in if they don't actually have people practicing? It's also useful to have a 'mojo' squad that mimics the playing style of your opponents so that you can practice your game plan against that 'mojo' team – how are they going to practice Quidditch without opponents? Just fly around and pretend that your opponents are there or just have the Beaters try to take your head off?

* * * * *

Tensions were high in Gryffindor as the house prepared to support their Quidditch team in the first match of the season. Expectations weren't very high for the team as they were facing Slytherin who was returning all seven starting players whereas Gryffindor was fielding a first year as seeker, had two beaters that had been on the reserve team starting, and had two chasers who were also on the reserve team (though both had started a match the previous season due to injuries to the starters), and was only returning two of their starting players – a second year team captain and the lead Chaser.

Perhaps because few expected Gryffindor to prevail the majority of the talk throughout the school was of Ranma and Syaoran's defeat of the troll in the dungeons.

"Little Ranma put down a troll?" Sirius balked at the notion.

With the much anticipated start to the Quidditch season about to begin, it was not unusual for parents and recent graduates as well as the residents of Hogwarts to make their way onto the grounds, though most milled around the Quidditch Pitch unless they had passes to come visit the students.

As Gryffindor and Hogwarts alum, and as the god-father of Gryffindor's newest Seeker, Sirius Black was of course allowed to visit Harry. It also helped that he was there with the Seeker's parents.

"I can't believe that you went after the troll," Lily said as she shook her head at Neville.

The sandy haired boy shrugged, "I've beaten several ogres before, and Ranma's defeated trolls before…"

"You've fought creatures like that before?" James asked skeptically.

"We've fought worse," the noticeably bulkier boy stated. "We fought a Totetsu to get a hair for Ranma's wand. Also fought a dragon but the Master didn't feel like killing it just for a heartstring."

Lily opened her mouth to protest.

"Looks like you've put on some weight there Neville," Sirius teased. "Grown a few centimeters as well."

Neville sulked.

"He says that his balance and coordination have been thrown off," Ron stated as the adults noted Neville's sudden change in mood. "Ranma and Syaoran have been getting the better of him during their spars."

"That-" the redheaded woman pointed at the bruise on Neville's face.

"Sparring," Ron stated, "though to be honest it looked like they were trying to murder you. I mean, he kick you hard enough to send you ten meters up and ten meters over – if the wall hadn't been there you probably would have gone further."

Lily Potter's eyes bulged at the prospect.

"Ranma did kick the troll in the head, though he didn't knock it out," Harry added.

"It's alright," James tried to reassure his wife, "I'm sure that Ranma really wasn't trying to hurt Neville."

"They spar every weekend for an hour," Ron added, "and before each meeting of the dueling club."

"Dueling club – you started a dueling club?" Sirius asked.

"Ranma and Neville convinced Professor Quirrell to advise them, though Professor Snape also helps out," Harry explained. "Most of the firsts don't do too well because they're afraid of Professor Snape."

"But mostly it's because the older students tend to be better and quicker with their spells," Neville added.

"Well, only you, Ranma, and Syaoran seem to be able to beat the older students consistently," Ron groused. "But seriously, how does Syaoran do that thing with the lightning and fire?"

James and Sirius blinked.

"He shoots fireballs and lightning bolts?" Lily exclaimed.

Neville nodded, "He used lightning against the troll. He usually tones it down in the club."

Looking around he eyed the adults, "Why isn't Mr. Lupin here?"

Startled by the keen observation skills that Neville displayed, the three adults glanced at each other.

"He was feeling sick," Harry answered, "so he couldn't make it."

"Who's Mr. Lupin?" Ron asked.

"Why don't we leave Harry to be with his parents?" Neville suggested.

"Yeah," Ron nodded in agreement, "I suppose he won't have much time with his parents before he has to get ready for the match."

* * * * *

Since becoming the head of Slytherin seven years ago his greatest pleasure was watching the Slytherins defeat the Gryffindors. For seven straight years the Slytherins had never lost to Gryffindor. Of all the matches that they had this was the most important to him. It wasn't that he hated Gryffindor – no, he actually liked a handful of his Gryffindor students he'd taught over the past decade, he just strongly disliked most of them – and there was one that he loved.

It irked him that that one was sitting beside the two Gryffindors that he truly loathed. It didn't help that that Gryffindor's son was virtually identical to his father or that he was the god-child of the other Gryffindor that he hated.

Staring down at his team, Professor Snape looked at the young Slytherins. "For those of you new to the team, I want you to know that I've told this to every Slytherin that came before you during my tenure as Head of House.

"This is the most important match of the year. For seven years Slytherin has reigned. We have ruled the Pitch, controlled the fate of the Quidditch Cup, and dominated the House Cup as a result. But losing to Gryffindor is unacceptable. If you lose here I will personally make sure that you all" he glared at each and every member of the starting and reserve player "will be training every possible day until the end of the season. Your training will not be pleasant, and it will not be quick. And should any of you want off of the team I will have you in detention for the rest of your time at Hogwarts as well as not permit you to visit Hogsmeade.

"Do I make myself clear?"

Each of the Slytherins nodded.

"Now go out there and destroy the Gryffindors as if your life depends on it – because it does."

* * * * *

Ranma had to admit, Quidditch wasn't bad. Sure, it wasn't the art, but it was good if you had to watch something, something he couldn't say about football, though rugby – that was a fun game to watch. Heck, even American football was okay, once the ball was snapped. Like rugby and football, there were many parts to the game – various rolls to be filled by the different positions, though unlike American football where there were assigned offensive and defensive units/squads, rugby and regular football employed all their players at the same time. Like rugby Quidditch employed all players at the same time, though only the Keeper was truly defensive, much like the goal keeper in football. The chasers fought for control of the quaffle either to put themselves in scoring position or to prevent the other team from getting into scoring position. The beaters helped or hindered their chasers by knocking the bludgers away from their teammates or by knocking them at their opponents. And then there were the seekers who pretty much just sat around looking for the snitch. While they had the greatest chance at earning points for their teams they were also the ones that did the least up until one of them spotted the snitch.

Watching them basically stay stationary as they scanned the area for the snitch, Ranma was glad that he wasn't a seeker. True, he had a keen eye, but really, if he played seeker the match would be over much too quickly, though perhaps that was a good thing. If he were to grab the snitch quickly that would mean a quick end to the match, giving his opponents fewer points. Considering that teams earned points towards the Quidditch Cup equal to their margin of victory, catching the snitch quickly would give them a greater chance of ending up with a greater margin of victory. Unfortunately the points earned in a match were also added to the house's total points for the House Cup. While most winners of the Quidditch Cup had won the House Cup, there were a few years where a team had forgone capturing the snitch so that the chasers could rack up more points for the house and thus win the House Cup. Thus a match that ended with a score of 520-490 would earn the winning team 30 points in for the Quidditch Cup and 520 points for the House Cup.

Unfortunately it wasn't always the house that earned the most points that won the House Cup though. There were some years where the house that won had earned the fewest points but had not lost any points while the houses that earned the most points had also lost the most points.

Ranma hoped that he wouldn't be one of the people losing his house any points. True, he and Syaoran had earned Hufflepuff a combined 47 points over the first month or so the term, but the pair of them had also lost a combined 15. It wouldn't help that the Gryffindor and Slytherin would be adding to their total points with today's match, though Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw would play in two weeks.

Watching as the Slytherin chaser knocked the Gryffindor chaser off her broom as the bigger flier collided viciously into her so that he could steal the quaffle from her, Ranma shook his head.

To encourage fair play teams were docked points for fouls (points from the House Cup, not the Quidditch Cup) while the resulting penalty also gave the other team a chance to shoot a foul shot. The loss of ten points from the House Cup and possibly giving up ten points in a match though was obviously not to be taken lightly, still, that didn't stop the very physical Slytherin team from employing that tactic as they abused the smaller and faster Gryffindors.

As a fighter Ranma knew that those punishing blows would slowly build up, even for the more resistant and durable magi/witch/wizards. Forced to use their second-string players the Gyrffindors were slowly losing to the Slytherins, something reflected in the score.

"And Katie Bell scores on the penalty shot!" the voice of the announcer, one Lee Jordan of Gryffindor, exclaimed. "The score is 80-50 Slytherin as Adrian Pucey takes the quaffle. He passes it to Alderton, but Fred Weasley breaks up the pass with a well placed Bludger. It's recovered by Bell, who passes to Johnson – oh, but the Worme's well placed bludger knocks Johnson around and she loses the quaffle. Flint recovers, evades Spinnet, and passes to Pucey who shoots – and Wood can't save it as Toothill stops him with a bludger! Slytherin scores! It's now 90-50 Slytherin."

"So they're allowed to knock bludgers at me?" Ranma asked as Cedric.

"Yeah," the second year seeker replied. "Once the other team is in scoring range the Beaters are allowed to knock the bludgers at you. A good pair of Beaters will always have one of the bludgers on hand to either break up a play or assist a play. The Weasley boys are good at keeping the Gyrffindors safe from the bludgers, but they don't assist as much as Worme and Toothill. They're good at keeping one ball around, but they tend to lose sight of the other, so the Weasley twins are keeping the other around just for general mayhem."

Ranma nodded. Watching the two sets of beaters it was pretty clear that the two teams used different tactics.

"Another spectacular save by Wood!" Lee proclaimed.

"See, Wood's a better keeper than Brookstanton," Cedric commented, "he's managed to keep this game close."

Ranma nodded. After an hour of play Wood had already saved over twenty shots, though he'd allowed nine to score. In contrast the Gryffindor chasers had only taken ten shots against Brookstanton who had only saved five. The physically aggressive Slytherins had bullied and abused the smaller Gryffindors, proving that their brute force and endurance was more than a match for the smaller and more skillful squad.

"Time out called by Wood. Looks like they're substituting Harrison for Johnson as Angelica took a real beating when Alderton crashed into her. We'll see if Harrison's size helps against the physical play of the Slytherin chasers.

"The score remains 90-50 Slytherin, though Wood has stopped the last four shots by Slytherin.

"What's this?! It looks like Higgs has spotted the snitch as he's on the move! He goes behind the stands, but it looks like he's lost sight of it as he flies back over the pitch."

The Gryffindor's cheered as the Slytherin seeker hovered over the pitch.

But before the Slytherin could begin scanning the area for the snitch his counterpart was on the move, zooming past him and dodging a bludger.

"It looks like Potter's on the move!" Lee shouted excitedly.

Ranma's keen eyes caught the glint of golden light reflected off of the tiny winged sphere as it flew around the base of the stands where the Ravenclaws were seated.

"You saw it too, didn't you?" Cedric smirked. "You'd be a great seeker."

Ranma nodded, accepting the praise from the Hufflepuff seeker.

Though much of the audience was focused on the dueling seekers as they jockeyed for position while chasing after the elusive snitch, the players themselves were focused on their match as the Gryffindor chasers continued to chase after the Slytherins as they sought to score once again. Only Wood's valiant efforts kept the snakes from increasing their lead.

"Harrison recovers – oh, that's nasty collision. Amazing – he maintains possession even though Flint and Pucey crashed into him. He passes to Spinnet. She eludes Alderson and a bludger from Worme. Passes to Bell. It's a feint! Brookstanton was faked out – he went to protect the left hoop but Bell scores through the center hoop! It's now 90-60 in favor of Slytherin as Potter and Higgs continue to chase after the snitch.

"Higgs breaks off as Weasley hits the other bludger at him. Now Potter's got a good five meters between himself and Higgs and he's closing in on the snitch. Yes! He catches the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

"And that's why Wood wanted a good seeker," Cedric stated.

Ranma and Li nodded.

Cedric smirked. "It looks like Slytherin's reign is coming to an end."

* * * * *

A good majority of the student body (and staff) celebrated Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin. Though it was just one match, it had been seven years since Gryffindor had beaten their chief rivals. Even the great Charlie Weasley, the last true seeker that Gryffindor had fielded, had not beaten the Slytherins in his three years as seeker.

For nearly a week the talk was now about ending Slytherin's reign over the Quidditch Cup and House Cup as the snakes had only managed to score 90 points in the match but had three fouls against them, thus gaining only 60 points towards the House Cup. Last year Slytherin had won the House Cup and Quidditch Cup because of their victory over Gryffindor – an embarrassingly one side affair where Higgs had essentially kept Charlie from capturing the snitch until Slytherin had a comfortable lead. Even with Charlie capturing the snitch, Gryffindor had lost 430-210.

But with Gryffindor's upset things were very different. Slytherin could no longer just coast through the season with a huge lead. Even Gryffindor wasn't safe as they had only won by 120 points, something that could easily be erased by a quick seeker or very even match or even a very lopsided match.

A week (and a Hogsmeade trip for the students in their third year and up, sans the Slytherin Quidditch players) later and the talk was now about the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match as the two teams and their houses sought to take advantage of Gyrffindor's upset of Slytherin.

"If we can keep it close than whichever team catches the snitch will have the edge in both Cups," Cora stated. Each member of the team had already heard that from their housemates, but hearing it from the muscular yet flexible team captain only helped to engrain that message into their minds. "But we can't think about the Cups yet – our goal is to win. To do that we take each match as it comes to us. It doesn't matter that we're playing Slytherin next. What matters is how we do against Ravenclaw this weekend.

"Cedric, you know what you have to do – catch the bloody snitch!"

The powerful brunette looked into her young seeker's eyes.

"Saotome! You're going to have to keep those tricky Ravenclaws from scoring. They're about as good as the Gryffindors, but they like to use a lot more feints. Look for Jewkes and Fawcett play a lot like Worme and Toothill so expect them to send some bludgers your way. Evans usually leads the pack, but he'll throw a feint and pass to either Davies or Burke instead as those two are more accurate."

Ranma nodded.

"Maddox, you'll be Evans. Lock, Leach, you're going to be Davies and Burke. Give Saotome a good look at what those three tend to do. Kemp, Peaks and Vance pretty much do everything that Burke, Davies and Jewkes do, so there's not much difference between their starters and their bench."

Ranma and the three reserve chasers nodded. Matt Moddox was a second year like Cedric, thus his spot on the reserve team but he was far larger and stronger than either Alan Locke or Samantha Leach, both of whom were third years. Only the experience and seniority given to Deborah Gorgovitch, Mason Dearborn, and Cora Lynch, all sixth years, had kept the two third years and one second year from starting.

"Nettles, Prye, just do what you can to disrupt Cedric and Ranma," Cora added.

But seniority didn't factor in for the fifth years Calvin Prye and Alvin Nettles as they were reserves behind the fourth year duo of Brad Cattermole and Percy Jones, the nearly identical boys (save for their eye color and the fact that Percy had a scar on his chin) had similar builds to the team captain but were much more muscular than the flexible girl.

Actually, everyone on the Hufflepuff team, be they reserves or starters, had the same muscular build – only Ranma and Cedric stood out and broke that mold as they were more lean and appeared fairly skinny when standing with their teammates. Yet despite their builds the Hufflepuff team was surprisingly quick.

It was that unsuspecting speed that had nearly resulted in Ranma nearly allowing the reserves to score against him as he was nearly lulled into complacency by the first dozen shots. Unlike the starters the three reserve players didn't go all-out every minute and the sudden bursts of speed would have allowed them to score against a lesser keeper, but Ranma was clearly not a lesser keeper.

Though it felt weird for him to actually be moving towards things that were coming towards him, Ranma simply took it as training because, well, it was training.

Having watched Wood and Brookstaton's play Ranma understood why Wood was significantly better than his Slytherin counterpart. Not only was Wood better at reading the formations used by the chasers as well as reading their subtle movements that told him how they were going to fly and move, but he could read their eyes, thus giving him an idea of where they were going to go with the quaffle.

Though Locke, Leach, and Maddox were good, they gave off obvious signs of where they were going and who they were going to be passing too or which hoop they were shooting for. And after a full three hours of practice Ranma was getting very good at reading the trio.

"Alright, that's enough for today!" Cora shouted, signaling the end of the day's practice as the lights in the castle began to be noticeable.

"Oy, Al, Matt, Sam!" the young keeper called out to his three teammates.

"What's up Saotome?" the youngest of the trio asked as he glided down to the ground.

Not keen to having the youngster giving him a nickname, Alan eyed the young upstart even as he flew by him.

"That's such a funny accent," Sam smirked as she flew over to Ranma.

"I noticed something while you guys were flying," the martial artist said, barely noticing the very American accent to his English.

"What's that?" Maddox replied.

"Well," Ranma said as he landed. Keeping the broom between his legs he mimicked the grip that Mason had used when he passed to the others. "Does Evans glance ahead at who he's going to pass to or does he just kind of know where they are?"

"Why?" Matt asked.

"Well, I noticed that right before you pass you pretty much lock your eyes on them," Ranma stated. "If someone starts to pick up on what you do than they'll be able to pick off your pass or in my case keep you from scoring."

"Huh," the older boy exclaimed, "never thought of that."

"And when you're gripping your broom," Ranma turned to Samantha 'Sam' Leach, "you always shift your grip so that you grasp the shaft further ahead when you're about to throw to your left but you always shift your grip back when you throw to your right. And you only throw with your right and pull up and stop or slow down when you're coming straight on.

"Deb," he turned to the lone female chaser of the reserves, "you always cock your head to whichever side you're going to throw to, kinda giving away where you're going to throw like Matt does."

Sam shook her head, "Now you're sounding like Cora."

"Yeah," Alan 'Al' Locke grumbled, "but you're pretty quick if you picked all of that up. No wonder you kept us from scoring a single time."

"Keep that up Saotome," Cora grinned as she joined the younger players, "and maybe you'll get to be captain eventually, after all of us graduate."

"Hey, if he keeps Ravenclaw from scoring next week than I'll buy him a pack of butter beer next Hogsmeade trip," Mason 'Mace' Dearborne added. "Evans, Davies, and Burke may not have the same tells as Al, Sam, and Matt, but they've got some. Don't depend on them though because you're not always going to see those tells or they might show you a fake tell."

"Yeah," Cedric added as he joined the discussion as the Hufflepuffs marched towards the locker room, "Katie Bell is great at faking out keepers, and the Ravenclaws are going to notice if you're picking up on their usual tells as well."

"'Tells'?" Ranma asked.

"It's slang from poker," Cedric explained. "A 'tell' is an obvious sign that a player is bluffing."

Ranma nodded.

"You've got a good eye Saotome," Cora stated, "but don't get too focused on just the 'tells'. As good as Oliver Wood is, he sometimes gets too focused on those 'tells' and forgets to watch out for bludgers. The first time he played he got knocked out ten minutes in because he wasn't paying attention to the bludger."

* * * * *

The fair, sunny skies that had favored the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match were nowhere to be seen as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prepared for their match. True, the first match of the season had been two weeks ago, but the drastic change in weather would make it hard for players and spectators alike to watch the match.

The weather also limited the number of places that students and their parents could congregate as they were all forced to stay inside lest they wanted to be soaked through. Over a dozen empty classrooms throughout the castle had been converted for the students and their visitors.

Not that Ranma, Syaoran, or Neville were going to have any visitors though. With the first Hufflepuff match just hours away the trio of boys had decided to take it easy and not spar.

"You're sure you can use that charm?" Neville asked as he eyed Ranma.

The raven haired martial artist was slowly wrapping his wrist and hands, favoring the wraps to the usual dragon-hide gloves that the other players used. "Yeah," he replied as he tucked the end of the wrap under another fold. "Madam Hooch is going to check us all for illegal charms before the match. I checked with her and she cleared this charm. I think most of the others will be using something like it too."

Neville nodded.

"Don't worry," Syaoran added, "I'll put it on him."

"So the charm doesn't keep you from getting wet…" Neville started.

"It turns all of the water that is about to touch me warm," Ranma finished.

"So you're never splashed with cold water," the sandy haired boy smirked.

The raven haired boy nodded.

* * * * *

"Oy, Neville," Harry shouted as he waved at his fellow Gryffindor. "Hey Syaoran."

Neville and Syaoran looked up, spotting the energetic Gryffindor as they approached the stands. Though it was only half an hour before the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match few people were in the stands as the pouring rain and howling winds had yet to die down. Few people obviously wanted to get wet this early in the afternoon and clearly, though a few were just now arriving from Hogsmeade.

With the two matches sandwiching a Hogsmeade visit by the older students (third year and up) the Three Broomsticks and the other shops in the only all magical village were doing very well, especially since so many parents had booked rooms at the Hog's Head and Three Broomsticks for each weekend so that they could visit their children and watch some exciting Quidditch. Even the poor weather for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw match didn't deter the alumni and parents. In fact, the Slytherin loss had perhaps created more business for the tiny village as more parents were interested in this key second match of the early season.

The long line of visitors from the village and alumni combined with the number of parents that were visiting students helped fill the stands despite the weather, though it filled out much closer to the start of the match than two weeks ago.

"We're going to sit by the guys," Harry stated rather than suggested to his parents as he led Neville and Syaoran towards a mixed contingent of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors.

Neville was glad to be away from the adults. Not only did he feel slightly remiss about essentially being an orphan, but he always got a sad vibe from Harry's mother that always seemed to leave an odd feeling inside of him. But seated with the firsts from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff he could relax.

Due to the fact that Quidditch was an aerial sport few spectators brought umbrellas as the instruments often obstructed either the user's view or the view of those behind them.

"Move aside!" a rough, gruff voice shouted. The owner of the voice forced his way down the aisle, shoving aside Gryffindor and Hufflepuff alike.

"Make room for your betters," a shrill voice proclaimed.

"We were here first," Ernie protested.

"So?" Malfoy sneered as his goons shoved aside the Hufflepuff.

"So," Neville said clearly, "these are our seats."

Crabbe and Goyle paused. Though they towered over Neville and Syaoran, the two lumbering boys had a rough idea of what the two smaller boys were capable of.

"Um," Goyle mumbled, "we'll sit over here."

"Yeah," Crabbe seconded.

Malfoy simply gaped at his companion's lack of spine. Turning around he dared to protest but caught sight of Syaoran's steady eyes on him. Thinking better of it he and his goons moved back towards the edge of the skybox where they would have to endure the pounding rain that slipped past the awning several meters overhead.

* * * * *

Ranma was not looking forward to playing in the rain. Well, honestly, he wasn't looking to play. The young martial artist really didn't like Quidditch. It was okay to pass the time, but he really felt that he could use half the time he'd spent practicing to improve himself as a martial artist. Though he didn't have the large growth spurt that Neville had, he had started to notice that he was growing. His added mass was not as noticeable as Neville's was, but it was still starting to throw off his balance. Still, he'd put in hours on his katas, but with the time he put into practicing for Quidditch as well as the extra study sessions with Neville and Syaoran, the dueling club, and their secret lessons with the elf Lyxander he was finding himself hard pressed to keep up.

If not for the fact that Syaoran always woke him up by throwing him out of bed Ranma was sure that he'd have slept in further and further each morning. His normally relaxed nature had started to be replaced with an edgier and angrier nature as he failed to get the rest he so desired. He'd even gone so far as to kick Neville a bit harder than he'd expected several weeks back, nearly getting Professor Quirrell to stop the spar and call off the Dueling Club meeting/practice altogether. Had it been anyone other than Neville or Syaoran, Ranma might have seriously hurt them with that kick. As it was Neville had emerged with a wicked welt and bruise that had kept him from sparring the next morning.

Half listening to Cora's speech, Ranma simply waited for the match to begin. The sooner it began the sooner it would end. Looking up at the dark sky and the pouring rain though he doubted that it would end soon though as he knew that Cedric or the Ravenclaw seeker would be hard pressed to spot the snitch much less capture it quickly.

Slowly the two teams walked into the center of the pitch. Unlike the Gryffindors and Slytherins who didn't shake hands before or after their match the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws exchanged formal greetings as well as a customary and polite "Good luck," as they shook hands.

Taking their positions they endured the pelting rain as Madam Hooch released the snitch, then the bludgers. Grabbing the quaffle she banished the case. "Ready?" she asked as she mounted her broom. Grabbing her whistle she threw the quaffle into the air then quickly kicked off of the muddy ground even as she blew into the whistle.

The gathered players quickly followed suit as they moved into position or jockeyed for position and possession of the quaffle.

A stiff gust nearly knocked several chasers off their brooms even as it sent the quaffle flying towards Ranma. As the only person on his team who was allowed to kick the quaffle, Ranma's powerful leg lashed out, connecting with the leather ball as he sent it flying towards the Ravenclaw hoops.

"Saotome scores!" Lee Jordan's magically amplified voice proclaimed over the howling winds and pounding rain. "That's unprecedented, but totally legal as the keeper is allowed to kick the quaffle. Hufflepuff takes an early 10-nothing lead as the two keepers fly to their respective positions.

"I'm pretty sure that Saotome was trying to kick the quaffle to Lynch, but a second gust of wind apparently sent it just off its mark," Jordan added.

As a keeper he wasn't supposed to handle the quaffle away from the hoops, but he could if it ever came close to him as it just had. Some teams were even known to play without a keeper when they were down, or even take out a beater or the seeker to add an additional chaser, though they were only allowed to have up to four chasers and only one seeker or keeper and up to two beaters.

Mentally Ranma tuned out the announcer, the howling winds and the pounding rain as he hovered before the three hoops.

The howling winds actually helped the sturdier and more muscular Hufflepuffs as they navigated the pitch through the wind and rain. The winds also kept passing to a minimum as sudden gusts could force the throw off even the best thrown pass.

Adjusting quickly to the conditions Lynch sped through the pitch, dodging Ravenclaws and the bludgers hit by Jewkes and Fawcett. Zipping around Adam Kiely the Hufflepuff captain waited for a powerful gust to throw the Ravenclaw keeper off before throwing the quaffle through the left hoop for a score.

"Hufflepuff scores!" Jordan announced. "20-nothing Hufflepuff. It looks like this match will be a low scoring affair given the weather but Hufflepuff seems to be making the best of it. Their straightforward style seems to work better in this storm and they're going to make the most of it. Can Ravenclaw endure the weather and Hufflepuff's strength and determination?

"What's this? Ravenclaw has called for a sudden substitution. They're pulling out Carmichael and putting in Stephan Vance. They're going with an extra chaser but pulling their only seeker.

"Apparently Carmichael thinks that there's no way anyone can find the snitch in this weather. He might be waiting out the storm and saving himself for fairer weather. Regardless this is a very dangerous gambit."

Four Ravenclaw seekers stepped onto the pitch. It didn't take long for them to make their presence known as they took possession of the quaffle. Outnumbering the Hufflepuff chasers they always had one chaser always open, giving them one player whom they could make a long pass to.

"Burke passes to Davies; Jones tries to break it up with a bludger but Davies simply breaks away. Davies passes to Evans. Jewkes hits a bludger at Saotome but the daring first year swats it at Evans who loses the quaffle. Dearborne recovers and speeds towards Kiely unimpeded. Vance tackles Dearborne but Dearborne maintains control of the quaffle. He shakes off the tackle and passes back to Gorgovitch. Cattermole hits a bludger that forces Burke away from Gorgovitch. Gorgovitch shoots for the left hoop but Kiely deflects it with a kick.

"Vance recovers the quaffle. He passes to Evans who slips by Lynch. Sandy passes to Burke. Burke avoids a bludger from Jones. She passes to Davies. Again Jewkes aims for Saotome with a bludger but Saotome simply catches it. Is he allowed to do that?!

"Saotome uses the bludger to knock away Davies' shot. Can he do that?!

"Madam Hooch calls for a time out."

Ranma watched as the head referee flew over to Professor McGonagall. After a brief conversation the Gryffindor Head of House spoke with Lee.

"Rule 1107.021 states that a player may dodge, swat, kick, or catch a bludger that comes close to them. They may even use it to throw it at another player or at the quaffle."

Ranma was surprised when the Ravenclaws didn't object, though the Slytherins clearly did.

"Um, Madam Hooch returns to the pitch and signals the end of the official's timeout," Lee announced. "Wow, I never knew about rule 110.021.

"Dearborne takes possession of the Quaffle. Evans and Burke move to intercept him. Dearborne passes to Gorgovitch, but Davies intercepts. Davies throws to Vance. Vance shoots, but again Saotome knocks it away.

"Burke recovers and quickly shoots, but again Saotome swats it away.

"Evans recovers and passes to Davies. Davies slips past Lynch. He fakes a shot and passes to Burke who shoots – but it's turned back by Saotome.

"Lynch recovers and avoids Vance. Lynch bowls through Evans. The Ravenclaws can't catch her. Only Kiely stands in her way. Lynch goes left but shoots right – and Kiely saves it. He throws it to Vance.

"Jewkes knocks a bludger at Dearborne, keeping him from tackling Vance. Vance takes it to mid-pitch but a bludger from Jones forces her to pull up. She passes to Davies. Davies slips past Lynch and Gorgovitch. He avoids a bludger from Cattermole.

"Fawcett and Kiely both send bludgers at Saotome. But he dodges them both. He's out of position as Davies shoots.

"Saotome jumped off his broom! He jumped off his broom! And he caught the quaffle! Saotome throws to Lynch. Somehow Saotome gets a hold of the hoop and now he's grabbed hold of his broom.

"Burke and Davies tackle Lynch – Davies has the quaffle. He passes to Evans. Saotome's still out of position. Evans shoots and scores!"

A loud cheer erupted from the Ravenclaws as Ranma moved back into position.

"Dearborne takes possession of the quaffle for Hufflepuff. Can they overcome the numbers against them? Somehow the Ravenclaws are wearing down even the surprising Saotome who's stopped a flurry of shots by the Ravenclaws.

"Wait; is that Diggory on the move? Yes, he's spotted the snitch. It looks like Carmichael's gambit is now working against him. With Diggory after the snitch Ravenclaw can't call for a timeout or substitution as play does not stop unless there's an injury.

"But the Ravenclaws don't care. Evans and Vance take the quaffle away from Dearborne. Vance passes to Burke, who slips past Lynch.

"Kiely knocks a bludger at Diggory but he's too far away to care.

"Jones knocks the other bludger at Burke who pulls up. That gives Lynch just enough time to catch Burke and steal the quaffle from him. Lynch slips past Davies and Vance, passes to Dearborne. Now it's a race to Kiely with Evans following.

"A bludger from Fawcett allows Evans to catch up, but Dearborne passes to Gorgovitch. A stiff gust sends it just out of Deb's hands though but Lynch recovers. Cora zips between Burke and Davies, but another gust knocks her into Vance who steals the quaffle.

"Vance now advances on Saotome. He's had a bit of a breather but can he hold up against this barrage?

"Wait, Diggory is closing on the Snitch! He's got it! This match is over! Hufflepuff wins 170-10!"

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series. Oh, and I do not own Pet Shop of Horror either.

* * * * *

The elation and celebration in Hufflepuff had lasted the entire week, at least for the Hufflepuffs as they celebrated their win over Ravenclaw. With the first two matches of the season over and the next set of matches over a month away things quickly returned to normal for the students.

Only the quickly cooling temperatures and significantly shorter periods of daylight seemed to keep the students inside. Well, most students.

"I can't believe I'm letting you two do this," Syaoran sighed. Blindfolded as he was he did not want to practice his blind fighting deep in the Forbidden Forest. Nor did he want to practice it against his friends' cursed forms.

The sound of snakelike scales against the hardened trunks told him that Ranma was close. Clearly the normally sandy haired boy was choosing to attack from the ground.

Mighty muscles coiled before Neville launched himself at the smaller boy. Leaping to the side, Li collided with a tree.

Yes, blind fighting sucked, especially as they were fighting in the forbidden forest.

Shaking his head as he regained his feet, Li tried to listen for the telltale signs that Neville was on the move. Despite the virtual darkness around him, he knew that the blindfold was necessary even though the moonless sky provided no light for any of the boys.

Then again, Neville's cursed form easily made up for the darkness, thus the need for Lyxander to supervise their training as the elf kept a veil of darkness around the entire area.

The sound of a young tree being snapped warned Li of Neville's attack as the transformed martial artist once again lunged at him.

Leaping high, Syaoran felt the rush of air as Neville lashed out with his tail at his feet. Clawed fingers grabbed hold of his wrist before a powerful fist was driven into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

With both boys struggling against each other, Ranma finally joined the fray. Two quick punches rattled Li, throwing him free of Neville's powerful grasp even as it sent him crashing into a tree.

The sounds of fierce fighting rang in his ears. Despite Ranma's flexibility and speed he could not deal with Neville's thick, scaly hide or his long, slender body wrapping his long, snakelike limb around his opponent Neville began to squeeze the air out of Ranma's lungs.

Despite Neville's increased power, he still maintained nearly perfect control over his cursed form, allowing him to gently squeeze Ranma rather than snap him like a twig. With each breath Ranma was slowly being squeezed tighter and tighter.

"Enough," Lyxander hissed. "We must return to the castle soon."

Syaoran pulled himself to his feet. Pulling out his wand he conjured a kettle of hot water for each of them even as Lyxander levitated the kettles. The tiny elf added some magical herbs that would hide their scents once the boys were doused with the water.

The blind elf had been the perfect person to supervise their fights as he was immune to the gaze from Neville's cursed form, and was a master at hiding and keeping things hidden. Even without seeing he was able to splash the three boys, transforming two of them back to their true forms and erasing the presence of all three, making it easier for them to sneak back into Hogwarts.

The fact that Lyxander was blind had surprised the trio of boys as they had seen the elf do things without ever hinting at a handicap. He moved just as gracefully and nimbly as the Master despite not being able to actually see the environment around him.

* * * * *

"Hey look," Ranma exclaimed as the first year Hufflepuffs approached the Great Hall.

As every student had learned, the giant board across from the main entrance to the Great Hall was home to the giant display that showed how many points each house had earned in their pursuit of winning the House Cup. Not only did it post points earned or lost by individual members of the houses as well as the total number of points earned, but it also contained the large list of things and activities that were banned in Hogwarts and the grounds as well as possible tasks that students could do to earn extra points for themselves and their houses.

As the least scholarly of his trio, Ranma had found that volunteering to do odd tasks was the best way for him to keep up with the more academically minded Syaoran.

"Hagrid's looking for help," the raven haired boy stated.

Of course it helped that the tasks were going to help him get into places that he normally wasn't allowed to go.

"I thought you had practice?" Syaoran asked as he looked up at the posting.

"I do, but this is for this weekend," Ranma replied. "And it doesn't look like any of the students from Care of Magical Creatures wants to help out. Twenty points…"

Li blinked. That would be more than enough for Ranma to take the lead on their personal challenge to see who could earn the most points for Hufflepuff. "Combined or each?"

Ranma shot him a calculating look, "Each."

* * * * *

It wasn't rare for Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione to find themselves at Hagrid's hut. True, Hagrid was just one of many people who knew the Potters well, but he was also the most welcoming and most available of the group, though his cooking was fairly deadly.

"What's wrong Ron?" Neville ventured to ask as he looked up at his fellow Gryffindor.

Of the foursome Neville and Harry seemed to enjoy the visits with Hagrid the most, but the look on Ron's face was not the usual one he gave whenever Hagrid offered them a rock hard biscuit.

Ron shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that. You remember Bill, right?"

Neville, Harry, and Hermione nodded.

"Well, he just got a job at Gringotts as a curse breaker."

"Curse breaker?" Hermione asked as she tossed her biscuit at the large hound, Fang.

"Yeah," the redhead nodded, "he tests how strong the protective spells and wards are on the vaults in Gringotts as well as helps to break the curses on any personal vaults that someone who passed away had so that their family can claim stuff inside the cursed vault. He's supposed to be working for their branch in Egypt but they called him back to London for a special job, that's why he's still in England.

"Anyways, he was supposed to stop by and visit the twins next weekend when the twins and Percy went to Hogsmeade, but he says that he's too busy with work. He was supposed to bring me his old broom, the one he used when he was seeker, since he bought a new Nimbus 2000 for himself. And he was going to bring a replacement for Scabbers."

"What's he working on?" the inquisitive Hermione asked, ignoring the fact that Ronald's rat had been missing for over three weeks.

"Well, over the summer holidays someone broke into one of the vaults in Gringotts, they didn't get anything since the owner of the vault emptied it out, but the idea that their security was breeched really made the goblins mad. He still hasn't figured out how they did it or how they slipped past security. He's been working overtime on this case since it was the first break in that Gringotts has had in over a decade.

"Vault 713 – from what Bill tells me the lower the number the higher the security."

Only Neville noticed the odd look that came over Hagrid's face at the mention of the Vault.

"713 is pretty high," Hermione countered.

"There are over a hundred thousand vaults in the London Branch alone," Ron mumbled.

"Oh," Hermione exclaimed, not liking the fact that she was proven wrong.

"713… Sirius has Vault 711," Harry said as his considered the news. "The Black Family has had that vault for awhile. It's supposed to be pretty secure."

"What's your vault number Hagrid?" Neville ventured to ask.

"Oh, me? I don't have a vault at Gringotts," the half-giant stated.

"I thought you did, I mean, why else were you in Gringotts the day that Harry and I were in Diagon Alley?" the sandy haired boy asked.

"Wh-you must be mistaken," the large man lied.

"Well, it's not easy to mistake you, it is Hagrid?" Harry replied.

"Well," the big man mumbled as he tried to think of a good excuse to not be called a liar, "sometimes Dumbledore sends me to get things from Gringotts for him."

"So what'd you get from Gringotts?" Ron asked.

"Um, nothing," Hagrid lied again, prompting the Gryffindors to look at him oddly. "Well, I can't tell you. That's between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel.

"I shouldn't have said that," he grumbled as he realized just what he'd said.

"First the three headed dog and now this," Neville mumbled.

"You found Fluffy?" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Fluffy?" four pairs of young eyes fixated on the large man.

"Yeah, what else do you name a dog?"

"What in the bloody hell is a monster like that doing on the school grounds?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, clearly offended by his use of language.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore wanted he to guard… wait, I shouldn't have said that."

Of the four youths only Hermione and Neville seemed to make the connection.

A sudden knocking at the door interrupted the conversation, saving the groundskeeper from revealing anything else. Standing up he quickly rushed to the door.

"Saotome, Li," he said, greeting the two first year Hufflepuffs, "what are you doing here?"

"We saw the posting on the board," Syaoran stated.

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, we wanna help you with your search in the Forbidden Forest."

* * * * *

Having rededicated his life to helping those in need and stopping others from abusing their powers, Albus Dumbledore knew that he had made many mistakes. Though he trusted each of the professors at Hogwarts, he knew that he couldn't always trust those that his professors trusted. As such he had entrusted several professors (and the groundskeeper) with creating one of the other six magical protections that he now employed to keep a particular red stone safe. If reports were to be believed no one had made it past the first guardian, though apparently there were those who knew of it or at the least had discovered the guardian.

Yes, these additional measures would be useful, though hopefully they would never be needed.

* * * * *

"I first noticed these strange tracks after the last storm," Hagrid said as he stooped over so that he could get a better look at the tree. "At first I thought it was just a werewolf, but these were fresh, and made during the new moon, not the full moon."

Hermione nodded even as she wondered how she'd been dragged into going into the Forbidden Forest. True, it was still daylight, and she would be earning twenty points for Gryffindor, but still, she'd rather have spent the day studying. If only Neville hadn't forced her down to tag along with him, Harry, and Ron as they visited Hagrid's cabin, she'd have spent a day reading the newest book by Gildroy Lockhart.

"And then I noticed that there are no footsteps," the bushy bearded man stated. "Not many creatures have the power to rip through the bark of these hardy trees, much less snap one like a twig" he pointed to a felled tree "but I whatever it is it's dangerous. The centaurs tell me that whatever it is keeps all the other creatures at bay, even the werewolves, and they're supposed to be the worst of what's out here."

"What about trolls?" Ranma asked out of curiosity.

Hagrid stood up and ran his fingers over his thick beard, "Well, they're pretty bad too, but they're kinda slow."

Neville nodded. "Yeah, they are."

"Werewolves are faster and more vicious – if you ever see one during the full moon you'd best start praying," Hagrid advised.

"Buck up Ron," Ranma suggested as he turned to the tall boy, "maybe we'll find a nice new pet for you."

"What happened to Scabbers anyways?" Syaoran asked as he tried to ignore the tracks that a transformed Neville had left behind.

"He disappeared over three weeks ago, right before the match with Slytherin," Ron sighed. "I just hope he died of old age instead of being caught by Mrs. Norris or one of the other cats or worse, to one of the owls."

"How can dying to an owl be worse than dying at the paws of a c-c-cat?" Ranma muttered. "They're vicious and vindictive. You know that they will play with their prey before finally kill it."

The raven haired boy shuddered.

"You really hate cats, don't you," the redhead stated rather than asked.

Neville nodded, "You have no idea."

* * * * *

The morning of exploring the Forbidden Forest had been fruitless, or fruitful, depending on one's point of view. To Hagrid it had turned up no new clues as to what was killing the unicorns, or of the mysterious creature that he suspected was doing it. For Ranma, Neville, and Syaoran it was fruitful as they now knew what areas to avoid when they snuck into the Forbidden Forest. Still, they'd all earned 20 points each for the task, earning Hufflepuff 40 and Gryffindor 80.

Parting ways from the Gryffindors the two Hufflepuffs as the two groups had decided to clean up before heading down for lunch, Ranma and Syaoran were more than a bit surprised to hear Fred and George Weasley so close to their dorm.

"I'm telling you Fred, there's no passage that any living person could use to get through this wall," George apparently.

"Someone's coming!" Fred muttered. "Mischief managed!"

"What are you two up to?" Syaoran asked as the two younger students approached the redheaded twins.

"Nothing," Fred replied hastily as he put something behind him.

Ranma eyed the twin. "We won't tell anyone."

Fred glanced at his twin. George shrugged then nodded, "Ranma's a decent bloke, and he's kicked in a troll's head."

Clearly that wasn't what the other twin wanted to hear.

"Well, you know how upset Ron is at losing his rat Scabbers, right?" George asked.

Ranma nodded. As the only one out of the four who owned a pet, he understood Ron's attachment to his rat, even if it was just handed down to him.

"At first we thought that he'd just run off," Fred added, his hands still behind his back. "So we decided to go looking for him."

"And how are you looking for him – he's a rat," Ranma said matter-of-factly.

George nudged Fred, who reluctantly pulled out a folded up piece of parchment. "Swear that you'll never tell anyone," Fred glared at first Ranma then Syaoran.

"Fine," Ranma replied.

"Sure," Syaoran added.

"Well, we've a special map of the school," Fred said as he unfolded the parchment. Pulling out his wand he pushed the tip against the parchment, "We solemnly swear that we are up to no good."

Ranma and Syaoran exchanged glances, not sure what to make of the vow. Suddenly ink started to fill the blank parchment, outlining all of Hogwarts and even adding names of the inhabitants – both living and dead.

"Wow," Ranma exclaimed.

"Interesting," Syaoran added. "Is that..?"

"Us, right here," George said as he moved beside Ranma while Fred moved beside Syaoran. "This map has all the secret passages, the passwords to get into everything but the dorms – everything. There's even this room over here but we don't know how to get into it" he pointed to a blank room on the seventh floor "but this hallway, there's no passage through this wall you see."

Ranma and Syaoran nodded.

"But we were following him," Fred added as he pointed to a Peter Pettigrew that was now on the other side of the wall.

"Who's Peter Pettigrew?" Ranma asked.

Both twins looked at Ranma.

"Peter Pettigrew was once a friend to Harry's parents," George explained.

"We heard Harry's parents talking about their time in Hogwarts and they mentioned him," Fred Interjected.

"But he turned on them and was working for You-Know-Who," George jumped in. "He betrayed the Potters and kidnapped Harry when he was only a few months old."

"They say that Pettigrew died that night, so we thought he might have come back as a ghost," Fred added. "But we checked with the registry of ghosts and he's not on the list."

"And no one would dare name their child after a traitor like Pettigrew, but just in case it was a Muggle-born student we checked the register, and there's no one by that name at the school," George stated.

"So we've been trying to track him during our free time."

Ranma and Syaoran nodded.

"Well, if you need help, I'm sure I could have Akira help out," the raven haired boy suggested. "It's not like he's got much to do half the time, and as long as it's in the castle he should be fine."

* * * * *

The cool autumn weather had driven most of the students inside, most. Only a handful of hardy souls ventured out into the blustery winds as dusk quickly approached. Neville and Syaoran were among that number as the two watched the Hufflepuffs practice for their quickly approaching match with Slytherin.

Ever since the encounter with the Weasley twins Syaoran had an odd nagging feeling. Going up to the library after lunch had provided him with some information and simply sitting with Hermione had given the rest of the information that was available. But Syaoran knew that there was more to the story of Harry 'The Boy Who Lived' Potter and Lord Voldemort.

"Neville," he said as they worked on their Herbology assignment.

"Yeah?" the other boy replied as he wrote down the properties and common uses of Devil's Snare.

"You've been living with the Master for nearly 10 years, right?"

"Yeah, ten years as of this past Halloween," Neville replied as he rolled up his scroll. "That's the same night that Voldemort attacked Harry Potter."

Syaoran nodded, is thoughts confirmed by his friend's reply. "Buy why would Dumbledore insist to the world that you'd died?"

Neville simply shrugged, "That's something I'll have to ask the Master and Dumbledore some day."

"You're okay with the world thinking you're dead, and that you're just someone else named Neville Longbottom?"

Again the sandy haired boy shrugged, "No, but what can I do about it? Harry's parents know, as does Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, but they seen to trust Dumbledore. I haven't met my father, but I've heard that he thinks I'm dead."

Syaoran caught the slight trembling in his friend's voice. "So I guess that Harry and the others are looking for this Nicolas Flamel."

Neville nodded, grateful for the change of subject.

"Isn't he the guy from that Chocolate Frog card?" Syaoran asked as he watched Ranma swat away a bludger.

Neville blinked. "What'd he do to get on the card?"

Syaoran shrugged, watching as Ranma knocked away a quaffle. "No idea. I figure if he's that famous we'd learn about him in History of Magic."

"You're the only one other than Hermione who'd stay awake for that class."

"Should we tell them about Flamel?"

"Nah," Neville shook his head, "if I trust Dumbledore with telling the world that I'm dead, why wouldn't I trust him to protect whatever it is he's got Fluffy protecting? I'm sure that he's got more than just a three headed dog protecting whatever it is."

"Yeah," Syaoran replied. "Though, I'm pretty sure any of us could take care of it."

The sandy haired boy nodded, "Yeah, after dealing with the Clow cards and Eriol a three headed dog is easy."

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Yes, the visits during the previous chapter were important, and even though the twins have the Marauder's Map, they still don't know the full extent of its ability or what they can or can't trust.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series, nor do I own Pet Shop of Horror or Card Captor Sakura. I own nothing – nothing!

Neither Neville nor Ranma truly knew what to expect of England or of December in England. Both boys had assumed that England would be very much like Japan as both were island nations. Unfortunately they had failed to consider that England was much further north than Japan resulting in significantly shorter days in the winter than in the summer and in much colder weather. Fortunately the castle provided them with some measure of protection from the elements even though they now wore their heating seals beneath their robes so that they could stay relatively warm.

With the second set of Quidditch matches for the season over (Gryffindor 240 over Ravenclaw 110 and Hufflepuff 170 over Slytherin 0) things were really heating up for the Quidditch Cup. With the final matches over three months away, the end of the first term quickly approaching and the Christmas Holidays fast approaching Cora had decided to let them off of practicing for the until they returned from the holiday break (something that Cedric needed after getting hit with a late bludger at the end of their match against Slytherin).

But with all the studying that Ranma needed to do before the end of term exams the trio of international students had little time to actually spar.

"So Hermione's got Ron and Harry trying to find out who Flamel is," Neville stated as he kicked at Ranma's calf with a sweep. Though Ranma easily avoided the attack, the taller boy knew that he'd managed to force the other boy from pressing his advantage.

"They're still at it?" Syaoran asked as he narrowly missed connecting with a thrusting palm strike to Ranma's back.

Only a well timed magical shield kept Ranma from getting tagged by Syaoran, sending the attacker flying across the room as the force of the attack was redirected at the Li. Not to be out done, Syaoran quickly created an invisible slide, allowing him to slide to the ground without injuring himself.

Still, that was more than enough time for Ranma to throw a fireball at Neville, who defended with a shield of his own before unleashing a torrent of vines that reached for the elusive Ranma's legs. Kicking away the closest of the vines Ranma conjured a swarm of fiery bees. Though tiny, their flames burned the vines, keeping the castor from being captured.

Suddenly a powerful gust of wind fanned the tiny flaming insects' flame, helping them burn the last of the vines. But the gust hampered Ranma just as much as it blew him into a giant web. Even he couldn't avoid getting caught in the sticky substance nor could he escape from it easily. Clearly Syaoran had not been idling while Ranma and Neville fought.

Earthen spikes flew at Syaoran as he turned to focus his attention on Neville. Pulling out his enchanted sword the young martial artist quickly cut through the volley of projectiles, only to realize that he'd lost sight of Neville in the process. The feel of several snaking vines against his ankles forced him to jump instinctively. Realization that he'd stepped into Neville's trap danced through his mind as he crashed into a jet of cold water. The water quickly froze, trapping him in a crystalline prison.

"Good job Neville," Ranma smirked as he freed himself from the webbing.

"Yeah," Syaoran added as he fought to keep his teeth from chattering.

A wave of his hand was all Neville needed to free Syaoran from his icy prison. "Thanks."

"You know," Ranma said as he burned the webbing, "I can't believe that Harry thinks he can do something about whoever it is that's trying to steal the stone."

Syaoran nodded, "He seems to be following in his father's footsteps. I heard that when he was here Mr. Potter was a big prankster."

"You'd think we get enough of that with Fred and George," Ranma sighed.

"I don't know about you guys," Neville chimed in, "but Gryffindor definitely does. Still, with Fred and George following Akira around, they haven't had as much time to cause trouble, though by now they know every way into each of the dormitories."

"There's more than one?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Well, yeah," Syaoran shrugged. "There's the fireplaces – you know, use some Floo powder and you can go to the other fireplaces, then there's the main entrance to each dorm, as well as two back up entrances in case there are emergencies – all the Prefects know about those but they aren't allowed to tell anyone."

Neville nodded as he banished the remains of the vines, "And then there are the entrances used by the House Elves, and another one for all the owls and the animals. From what Fred and George tell me, Akira's found all the nooks and crannies that only something like Akira or Trevor, or maybe a rat can get through. They're thinking of setting traps throughout all those hidden nooks just to see if they can catch Pettigrew."

"Akira said that he followed the trail into Fluffy's room and down the trapdoor," Ranma added.

"You talk with Akira?" Syaoran asked skeptically.

"Yeah," the raven haired boy stated. "My cursed form lets me speak to almost all the creatures. Hell, I even see them as people, though they still have features that hint at the creatures they are. Makes it easier to deal with the c-cats."

Neville nodded as he finished cleaning the rest of the mess from their fight. "Good think the Master stopped your father after the first time. It's a good think you look very much like your cursed form too."

"Yeah, though I honestly don't know if it's a guy or a girl, or a bit of both," Ranma added. "I just can't help that I'm such a good looker normally."

"What if Pettigrew is alive?" Syaoran asked out of the blue.

"Then how would he get through the walls?" Ranma asked as he looked at his friend skeptically.

"Well," Neville interjected, "what if he turned into something small enough to get through the walls. You know that Akira is pretty small an nimble, so what if"

"What if he turned into a rat?" Syaoran finished.

Ranma and Neville glanced at each other then at Syaoran.

"Scabbers!"

"What is the third challenge Wormtail?" the raspy voice of the half-alive dark wizard hissed.

A portly by disheveled man knelt before his master, unable to look up at the frightening visage of the most terrifying dark wizard of recent history. Having been forced to flee his current 'owner' when word of his old friends return to Hogwarts reached his ears, the rat animagus had hoped that he could simply avoid them and his 'owner' for a weekend. Unfortunately things had become very complicated as several cats had taken to chasing him around the school grounds.

Forced to flee into the Forbidden Forest so that he could find enough sustenance to maintain his energy he'd been discovered by his former master. Though the wizard was more dead than alive, and forced to share a body with his newest minion, the nearly weekly consumption of unicorn's blood was slowly enabling him to take a more solid form. True, he would be forced to share the body with the host for now, but that was merely a temporary matter.

No longer able to return to his 'owner', Peter Pettigrew knew that he could not escape his master's notice again. It had been one thing when virtually everyone had thought that the dark lord had perished over eleven years ago, but with Lord Voldemort reduced to just two loyal minions he would do everything in his power to retain those two minions.

"M-master, the third challenge is to capture a flying key," Peter stated, "but there are thousands of keys. And of course I lack the flying skills to capture it in the vast room that the keys fly around in. Unlike the other doors, I cannot pass through this doorway or challenge without the proper key."

"I can capture it," Voldemort's current host volunteered. "I may not be as good as a seeker, but if we were to acquire some Felix Felicis I'm sure that I could capture it. The potion could also help us with the other tasks as well."

Both minions stood silently for a moment as Lord Voldemort considered the idea. "Wormtail – you will check the Room of Requirement and gather the supplies needed to brew Felix Felicis if there is not a potion already prepared or stored there. Knowing Snape he would not have one on hand and if he did I'm sure he would have protections on it."

"Why not reveal yourself to him?" Wormtail suggested.

"He has been under Dumbledore's thumb for too long," Voldemort hissed. "I do not know if I can fully trust him yet."

Again the pair of minions simply held their tongues. Despite the fact that their master was in this reduced state both wizards feared him.

"What of the map you created with your blood-traitor friends?"

"I searched Filch's office and could not find it," Pettigrew replied. "I fear that he destroyed it not long after confiscating it from us."

"You're sure that Potter or Black did not liberate it during your days at Hogwarts?"

Peter shook his balding head, "No master, none of them ever mentioned it after we left Hogwarts, though Sirius did lament that he had left it with Filch."

Accepting his minion's words as truth, Voldemort considered his options.

"I think that it is time I return to the Chamber of Secrets."

The first snowfall of the season came relatively early, at least to the handful of international students as they rarely saw any snow this early in the year unless they were in the mountains skiing. Having gone to sleep fairly early they were surprised to see the world outside of the castle turned completely white as at least a dozen centimeters of compact snow had fallen, coating everything that it came into contact with.

Despite the cold the emerald mantis had woken early to secretly secure the Marauder's Map from the twins before giving it to Neville. Slipping out of the Gryffindor tower unnoticed via the house elf's entrance, Neville met up with his partners in crime.

"You bring it?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah," the sandy haired youth replied matter of fact-ly as he held out the parchment. Pulling out his wand he poked the packet of paper, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Slowly ink moved around the parchment, revealing to the three boys the locations of everyone in the school.

Syaoran quickly pulled out another piece of paper, this one with its own righting and paintings on it. "Replicate," he said, commanding the enchanted paper to magically examine and copy the magical artifact.

Ranma smirked, "Wicked."

It took nearly an hour for the second artifact to analyze and copy the first, an hour that the boys did not waste as they wandered the corridors of the school in silence. Taking advantage of the snowfall the trio of martial artists and magi took to conjuring snowy or icy golems to spar against. By the time the hour was up the courtyard was no longer a pristine white – rather it was now a messy muddy brown and stony grey as the remains of the golems began to met.

"It's done," Syaoran stated as he quickly examined his clothes making sure that he had managed to keep the mud and melted snow from tarnishing his immaculate outfit.

"The map or your clothes?" Ranma teased as he magically cleaned his clothes.

Neville simply checked his seals, making sure that they were all working still despite having gotten wet.

"Map," Syaoran replied as he took hold of the original Marauder's Map. "You'd better take this one up to the twins – I suspect that they and the rest of the school will be up soon."

The sandy haired boy nodded.

"Here, take this copy as well," Ranma suggested as he threw another parchment at Neville. "We're going to head back to Hufflepuff and change then we'll meet you for breakfast."

"You guys did all this?" Fred exclaimed, clearly skeptical of what the three first years had done.

George blinked. "That's bloody brilliant. How'd you copy it?"

"We used a hybrid type of magic," Syaoran stated. He was slightly surprised that the twins were taking it this well. To have something that they'd been working to decipher done before even they had accomplished the feat would have floored Syaoran or Ranma, but for the twins to be so accepting of it, well, that was unexpected.

"Typical Hufflepuff," Fred smirked as he looked down at the copy of the Marauder's Map.

"So who did it Nev?" George inquired as he examined another copy of the Marauder's Map.

"Li's brilliant," the sandy haired boy stated. "I don't even know how he did it.

"But these are the traps that we've set up with Akira and Trevor," he pointed out several points on the dungeon level on the original Marauder's Map.

"We've got some of the owls looking for him on the grounds as well, but we can't activate the traps until everyone's gone for the Christmas Holidays," Neville explained.

"Looks like we're going to be here for the holidays as well," Fred interjected.

George nodded, "Yeah, our parents are taking our sister to visit our brother in Romania."

"I thought he was doing the investigation at the London branch of Gringotts?" Syaoran interrupted.

"That's Bill. He's already in Egypt," Fred replied.

"But he already wrapped up that investigation so it's only our parents and sister at home," George explained.

"Charlie's the one in Romania working on the dragon reserve," Fred stated.

"Bill's using the money he got for the job to send our parents and sister to Romania," George added.

"So you're going to be here for the holidays," Ranma smirked.

Neville and Syaoran nodded.

The raven haired boy nodded, "The more the merrier."

"So what do we do?" George smirked.

"Well, we noticed that Pettigrew seems to head over to the seventh floor then disappears around here," Syaoran pointed out. "But he only does it when no one else is around. We've set traps up in this hallway as well because we don't know what he's up to."

"Wait," Fred interjected, "so he's really alive?"

"He didn't die the night You-Know-Who tried to kill Harry?" George asked.

"We think he might be an unregistered animagus, probably turns into something small like a rat or something," Neville explained.

George blinked, "That's why no one really sees him."

Fred blinked. "Scabbers."

The younger twin blinked again. "Scabbers? Oh, bloody hell – Scabbers!"

Neville nodded. "He's been with your family for"

"Since right after the attack on the Potters," Fred finished.

"That's why you can't just summon him to you," Syaoran added. "You can't summon people or large animals, but small animals like rats…"

"Why didn't we see this sooner?" Fred asked rhetorically.

"What do we need to do?" George asked.

"Well, since you're going to be here over the holidays as well, we need to find out what's on the seventh floor and to find out why he always goes into Professor Quirrell's chambers," Neville asked.

"And you haven't brought it up with him because of your promise to us," Fred nodded.

George mimicked his twin, "But we don't know much about Professor Quirrell either or if we can trust him."

But Professor Dumbledore trusts him, Neville wanted to say, but thoughts of possibly living with the father that he only knew of, of the father that didn't even know he was alive kept him from saying anything.

"For the past thirteen years no one has lasted more than a year as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Fred explained. "We didn't think anything of it our first year but when Professor Kingston was found ripped to shreds as a result of a werewolf attack at the end of our first year we started thinking about the 'curse' that is supposed to be on that position."

"Last year we had two professors," George added. "Professor Silverstone only lasted the first term then was found dead over the Christmas Holidays in the Forgotten Forest. Professor Frank was found beaten to death by a pack of trolls during the Easter Holidays."

"They say that the people who know how to deal with the Dark Arts are usually the ones who have dabbled in it," Fred finished.

"So it's possible that a teacher who is an expert in Defense Against the Dark Arts might have some dark connections," Syaoran concluded.

A moment of silence filled the tiny classroom as several students rushed past the door.

"Bloody hell," both twins exclaimed in unison.

"We've noticed that after curfew Professor Quirrell heads down to the western wing and into the girl's bathroom on the second level of the dungeon," Neville added. "Then he disappears."

"There's a secret passage out of Hogwarts that we don't know about?" Fred mumbled.

George looked at the map, "It's possible that this map doesn't have all the secret passages, like the small holes in the walls or the pipes."

The sandy haired boy nodded, "The map's not to scale; there could be some gaps or other passages that we don't know about."

"It's possible that the makers didn't get everything down," Fred considered.

George nodded. "So, what do we do?"

Syaoran and Ranma looked at Neville.

"Well," the sandy haired boy said as he looked at the others, "we set the traps for now and continue to observe Pettigrew and Professor Quirrell, but we might have to find out what they're doing and if possible capture Scabbers. We can't take this to the adults until we have some concrete proof.

"For now we'll keep an eye on Harry and Ron as they watch the passage in the third floor and see if Scabbers shows up over there again. Whatever the professors are protecting I'm sure that Scabbers in trying to get at it, but for now he might be looking for another way in.

"Now, these maps, they're not complete copies of the original."

"Really?" Fred asked as he looked at his copy.

"We've keyed them to each of us so that no one else can look at the maps or if they try, it'll change the features and hide each of us," Syaoran explained. "Our copies also show all the traps that we've set throughout the castle as well. We've also added the passages that the house elves use."

Having spent his youth with James Potter and Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew knew about traps and pranks. Though he lacked their charisma, talent with magic, and pure creativity, he could spot the traps laid by some tricky third year students – especially since he'd lived with them for the past decade.

Still, the school was virtually barren with most of the students off visiting their families for the Christmas Holidays, giving the rat animagus virtual free reign over the nearly empty castle as most students took their pets home with them.

But it was the inventive first years and their eastern magic that tripped him up with their hidden seals that had spewed a thick layer of sticky goo, binding the animagus to the ground and keeping him from escaping.

"Hurry," he heard someone exclaim with his sharp rat ears.

"Make sure you've got those shoes on," another slightly more familiar voice urged. "If it has gone off then we'll get caught in the trap as well unless you're wearing those."

"And make sure you don't fall down," a virtually identical voice added.

The sound of four, no, five distinct pairs of feet shuffling down the corridor alarmed the wizard turned rat. He'd spotted the Weasley twin's traps, but clearly those had been used to mislead him into the real trap. But who were they working with? And who were they trying to catch? Had they realized his true nature or where they just trying to capture Scabbers?

"Bloody hell, Snape's on his way," one of the twins cursed.

"Go, we'll take care of this," a third voice said with a slightly American accent.

Peter Pettigrew cursed his ill-fortune. It was those bloody first years from Japan. No wonder he'd missed their traps. But were they trying to capture Scabbers or someone else?

He was caught and there was nothing to do about it but wait to see what they actually wanted from him.

Ranma looked down at his copy of the Marauder's Map. "Mischief Managed."

Slowly the ink vanished, leaving the parchment completely blank. Throwing it into his pocket with his other scrolls and school stuff, the young Hufflepuff quickly glanced at his remaining accomplices. Neville and Syaoran returned his nod.

With much of the student body away from the castle for the duration of the Christmas Holidays the handful of students remaining had the entire castle to themselves. The handful of Hufflepuffs that remained were sticking to their dorms, though a few had gone to the green houses or to enjoy the snow.

Three of the four remaining Weasley boys had stayed behind as only Ronald had been invited to visit and stay with the Potters, leaving a Prefect and the troublesome twins to hassle the remaining students in Gryffindor and Hogwarts as a whole.

And with school officially out for the holidays and with them being between terms the remaining students were free of the usual restrictions (save that boys could not enter the girls' dormitories) and could neither earn nor lose points for their respective houses. True, they could still earn detentions, but what else did they really have to do over the holidays?

Still, the traps in the corridor that they had set for Scabbers/Pettigrew would probably merit a week's worth of detention, something that Neville, Ranma, and Syaoran could afford, but not something that all five of them could do over the break between terms.

"There," Neville said as he pointed out the trapped rat.

Syaoran nodded. Walking carefully over the sticky floor, he pulled out several pieces of parchment. Skillfully he threw them so that they landed around the trap and the rat. Suddenly the sticky substance retracted from the floor, forming solid bars around the rat. Slowly the bars solidified into a hardened and enchanted crystalline structure.

The sound of another set of footsteps from the other end of the hallway announced the presence of Professor Snape as he patrolled the castle. "What is going on here?"

The three boys looked up at the Potion's Professor.

"We've been trying to capture our friend's rat," Neville explained as he grabbed hold of the now completely formed and solid cage and the rat that it contained. "It's Ron Weasley's rat sir," he held it up for the professor to see.

"So it is," Snape said in his usual sneering monotone that the reserved for anyone not of Slytherin. "Such an elaborate trap for a rat."

"Well," Syaoran interrupted, "he's been with the Weasley family for _over eleven years_, I'm sure he's picked up some tricks from them."

Snape blinked. "Yes," he finally replied, "I suppose it has."

The trio of first years looked at their professor, unsure of what else to say.

"Well get back to the lower levels," Professor Snape snapped, "it's almost time for lunch and I'm sure you won't be bringing the rat down to the Great Hall. I'm sure you can find one of the other three Weasleys to give the rat back to."

With less then two dozen students remaining at Hogwarts over the Christmas Holidays the Great Hall seemed very empty. With no need for the four grand tables, Professor Dumbledore had ordered the house elves to simply furnish the Great Hall with one large table that was enough for the remaining students and the Hogwarts staff.

"S-so, Pr-Professor S-Snape," Quirrell stuttered as he sat beside the Potions Master, "wh-what w-was the d-dis-disturb-ance on the se-seventh floor?"

The greasy haired man glanced at the trio of first years as they sat between the handful of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, "Nothing, just Mr. Lonbottom, Mr. Li, and Mr. Saotome capturing their friend's rat."

Ranma barely caught the slight snap in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor's posture as he heard the news. Clearly there was some connection between Professor Quirrell and Pettigrew, but what?

Yes, it would soon be time to see if they were right about the rat.

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series. Oh, and I don't own Card Captor Sakura or Pet Shop of Horrors.

X X X X X

"So," Fred said as he looked down at the caged rat, "what do we do with 'Scabbers'?"

His twin eyed the rat as well, "We could wait for Ron to come back."

Fred seemed to consider his twin's advice.

"I don't know," Percy objected. "I think we should send him to Ron – it'd be a great Christmas present."

The twins looked at their older brother even as the trio of first years eyed the stern and stoic Weasley. Though the twins were reluctant to let their humorless brother in on their supposed secret (they really didn't want to tell him about the Marauder's Map or its copies) they had agreed to tell him about recapturing the rat and the possibility that it might be more than it appeared. As first and third years respectively they hadn't learned any spells that would force an animagus to reveal himself, and in truth they were unsure if they should involved the only animagus that they knew – Professor McGonagall. Yes, the Transfiguration Professor would know being an animagus herself but also because she was an expert at Transfiguration.

Seeing the rat react negatively to that suggestion though made the sextet wonder – from what they'd heard Peter Pettigrew had been the least talented of his foursome, yet allegedly he'd become an animagus, something that even in the magical world was unusual and difficult to do.

It made them think about what they knew and what they thought they knew.

Yes, an unregistered animagus would make it easier for Pettigrew to hide himself, and make it easier for him to spy on the good guys who had fought against Lord Voldemort. Things just seemed to be adding up too well.

"I've got an idea," Ranma stated finally, drawing three sets of Weasley's eyes to him. "But not in front of the rat."

The Weasleys nodded as Syaoran strengthened the wards and seals on the magical cage, making it so that the rat couldn't hear or see anything as he draped a charmed cloth over the cage.

Concentrating, Ranma focused on the special charm that he almost always wore. Magical ink appeared on his forearm, revealing to the three Weasley boys the eastern style charm he used. Rubbing off the charm he glanced at Syaoran who had poured a glass of cool water. Nodding he waited for the impact of the cold water against his skin.

Though the transformation was less noticeable and dramatic than Neville's curse, it was still very unsettling as a martial artist as his muscles were less defined yet much more powerful, throwing off his sense of balance ever so slightly. Though he maintained his usual hair style and color, his features softened, making him look more feminine. But it was the eyes that really stood out – one golden and the other a beautiful violet.

Beyond the appearance was the fact that in this form Ranma perceived the world differently – though it wasn't the world that he saw differently, it was the animals in that world. No longer was Akira just an emerald mantis – he was a regal man with bright green eyes and hair. It was possible that even Neville's other form would be more human than it was, though he didn't dare look at Neville when he was transformed.

"Wicked," Fred muttered as he noticed the subtle changes.

"Bloody hell!" Percy exclaimed.

George was simply speechless.

Ranma nodded at Syaoran, who quickly removed the cloth that had covered the cage. To an untrained eye Ranma appeared to be very much the same as he was before, though to a real animal the changes were unnoticed as well.

"Akira," the transformed boy said, summoning his familiar.

An emerald haired young man with bright emerald eyes appeared from behind a desk, "Master?" Slowly the emerald mantis turned human walked over to Ranma though to the other boys' eyes the mantis simply flew and hovered before him.

"Wicked," George exclaimed. "What the hell you saying to him?"

Neville simply shook his head, silencing the others so that the transformed boy could do his work. Having seen Ranma in his cursed form he knew that Ranma could actually talk in a strange language that allowed him to understand all animals. Fortunately he didn't need Ranma's cursed form to speak with his cursed form.

Watching as Ranma tried to converse with Ron's pet in the same language that he used to speak with Akira and Trevor, he whispered to the Weasleys, "Ranma's cursed form allows him to speak with all animals and allows animals to talk to each other if they're different species. If Scabbers really is a rat he should be able to talk with him, but if not…"

"Wicked," Fred exclaimed, awed at what Ranma's cursed form was capable of.

"Where can I get me a curse like that?" George whispered hoarsely.

"China," Syaoran grumbled. "Cold water turns him into this, hot water turns him back."

"How?" Percy glanced at Ranma then at Syaoran and Neville.

"Jusenkyo," Neville mumbled, "I've got one too, but mine's different – you look at my cursed form and you get turned to stone."

"There are thousands of cursed springs," Syaoran added, "each with their own tragic story. Anyone who is doused with the cursed water or falls into the springs turns into whatever drowned in the spring."

"There's no cure?" the stoic and uptight Weasley asked.

Neville shook his head.

"How long have you had your curse?" George asked.

The sandy haired boy shrugged, "A while."

Though the Weasley boys hadn't known Neville or Ranma for very long they decided not to press the sensitive issue despite the twins' curiosity. For once Percy was able to reign in his younger brothers' lack of tact as he turned their focus back to Ranma as the transformed boy tried to talk with the rat.

Throwing the charmed towel over the cage, Ranma shook his head. "I tried to explain to him how to get out of the cage, and even Akira and Trevor tried talking to him, but nothing."

"So what do we do?" Percy asked.

"I think we take this to Professor McGonagall," Neville suggested. "That way we don't have to reveal our curses to anyone else and we can have an adult confirm our findings."

Before the boys could come to some agreement, they were suddenly interrupted.

"What do we have here?" the familiar mono-toned sneer of the Potions Master grated on their startled ears.

The trio of international first years spun around while Fred and George instinctively moved to stand before the captured rat and the cloth that was draped over the cage. Only Percy seemed unfazed by the professor's appearance.

"We're just loitering," the elder Weasley stated. As a Prefect he had the best understanding of all the various rules implemented for the students who remained at Hogwarts over the Christmas Holiday break.

"Oh really?" the lean professor stated.

"Yeah," Syaoran seconded, "since we're Hufflepuffs and we're not allowed in their common room we decided to meet down here."

Professor Snape's eyes darted from boy to boy, reading their faces for any trace of a lie or dishonesty. Finally they settled on the mischievous twins. "What happened to your eyes?" he asked Ranma even as he locked his own eyes on the twins.

"Contacts," he quickly replied. "We were"

"You were attempting to transfigure or charm yourselves to hide who you really are," Snape concluded.

"Actually," Neville said as he forced himself to take a step forward, "we were returning Ron's pet rat to his brothers."

Fred and George nodded as they pulled off the cloth over the cage, revealing the fat old rat that once belonged to Percy.

Having never seen the older Weasley's former pet, Professor Snape was about to dismiss it even as his eyes looked over the creature. If not for Neville's daring though he would have simply overlooked things.

"We think that he might actually be an animagus," the sandy haired boy added. "An unregistered one."

The other boys gaped, not sure what to make of Neville's admission. Though he had mentioned taking it up with Professor McGonagall, they had not expected Neville to tell Professor Snape.

"Common rats have a life expectancy of three years," Ranma stated. "Even rat familiars don't live past five, not to mention the decade that Percy Weasley's had him before he gave him to Ron."

Percy nodded. "We all took it for granted that he was around, but what if he is an animagus?"

"If he was an animagus, why would he live with you?" the greasy haired man asked.

"Because he might be hiding from someone," Syaoran answered. "What if he was a follower of Voldemort?"

Everyone save Neville, Ranma and Syaoran flinched at the mention of the dark wizard.

"Everyone in the wizarding world overlooks rats," Fred stated. "So he could go almost anywhere he wanted to."

"And if he lived in a wizarding family, one that had ties to the Ministry," George added, "he might be able to get information that could help his missing lord."

"Or for those who are still loyal to the Dark Lord," Snape muttered, "or to his cause."

The boys nodded.

Only the sound of Scabbers' squeaking kept the room from going completely silent as Professor Snape contemplated what they had to say.

"We should take this to the Headmaster," the Professor finally said.

Solemnly, each of the boys nodded, resigned to the professor's decision.

The twins were reluctant to hand the rat over to the hated Slytherin Head of House, but they were out voted by the other boys. Stepping aside, the twins gave Syaoran room to collect the cage as neither twin was willing to hand anything over to Professor Snape despite the situation.

Accepting the cage from the young Hufflepuff, Professor Snape nodded before swiftly turning around. "Follow me," he said, ordering the boys even as he led them to the Headmaster's office.

No sooner were they outside of the door of the virtually abandoned classroom than they found themselves under attack as an obviously bored Peeves assaulted them with balloons filled with water, paint, and other liquids.

"PEEVES!" the twins shouted in unison as they ducked for cover.

"Peeves!" Professor Snape exclaimed as he momentarily forgot about the cage in his hands.

With so few of the students remaining at Hogwarts during the holiday break, the poltergeist focused his attention on the few students around – namely the group of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Though Peeves rarely listened to any of the professors save the Headmaster, the poltergeist knew the moment that his balloons hit the Potions Master that something was very wrong.

The cage that the Head of Slytherin had been holding slipped out of the now soaked wizard's hand, hitting the floor even as two balloons hit the cage and the rat. The force of the impact combined with the liquid weakened the cage just enough that a small opening broke off, allowing the captured rat an opening.

With the boys distracted by the barrage of balloons, they could do nothing but watch as the rat squeezed its head through the tiny opening. Its body soon followed as the rat animagus took advantage of his animal form and escaped.

"Akira, Trevor – after him!" Ranma ordered the two familiars, taking advantage of his cursed form's ability to commune with animals. The mantis and toad quickly gave chase, following the rat as ran back at the scattered students.

"No," Neville hissed as he felt the magical water hit him. The feel of his legs melding together, ripping his pants and boxers as they formed one long, scaly appendage always made him lose his balance. Trying to make the most of the situation closed his eyes and focused. "Bring me the rat," he ordered the serpents that were melded to his head. Though he had initially thought that the creatures were fused to his cursed form's skull, he found that he could send one or two out of the dangerous creatures. With the school virtually empty for the holiday break Neville was hopeful that no one would be hurt by the creatures.

"Everyone," Ranma shouted, "close your eyes!"

Syaoran quickly acted, knowing how dangerous his friend's cursed form was. "Vanish!" he shouted, immediately triggering the second magical seal on Neville. "Darkness," he added, triggering the third seal set to protect those around Neville. Though the seals/charms had been initially set for Neville to activate, the boys had quickly discovered that Neville's cursed form couldn't actually invoke those charms/seals, thus forcing either Ranma or Syaoran to activate the matching triggering seals that they had on them.

Only Peeves hadn't been fortunate enough to avert his eyes from Neville as the first year Gryffindor transformed. Gazing at the cursed creature, the poltergeist found himself frozen, his limbs stiff and unwilling to move even as he hovered in the air.

Though Neville was now invisible, a sphere of darkness consumed him, making it impossible for him to see anything. Only his serpentine tail emerged from the darkness as his body was now four times as long as his true form was tall. Still, he wasn't completely lost. Even with two snakes deployed (both of which were now invisible and cloaked in spheres of darkness) the cursed boy still had five more snakes attached to his head. Using their sense of smell he placed each of the others by their scent – Percy, Fred, and George to his 7, Ranma to his 10, Syaoran to his 4, and Professor Snape at his 12. With the Weasley boys standing close to his tail Neville slowly slithered towards the wall, hoping that no one would step on his tail/body even as he forced himself upright.

Though he'd spent much time getting used to his cursed form, Neville still couldn't account for the ample breasts that his cursed form had, throwing his balance off considerably given that he had to slither. Only through immense training and force of will was he able to force himself upright, though when he did he was now towering over everyone (whom he still could not see).

"What is going on here?" Snape said as he dared to defy the warnings that Ranma had issued. Turning around he was greeted with the sight of a sphere of darkness hovering before him.

"Um, I think it'sss sssafe now," Neville hissed.

With his bond to all creatures, it was easy for Ranma to understand his long time friend, though everyone else could still understand Neville so long as they concentrated.

"Blimy," Percy exclaimed as he felt something scaly bump his leg, the idea that Neville was invisible and surrounded by a globe of darkness not even registering.

Snape simply blinked as he took everything in. "Somebody needs to explain just what is going on here!"

X X X X X

"Simply amazing."

It was a simple statement, and one that truly surprised the gathered Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs as well as their heads of house and the Head of House for Slytherin. It was not something that they had expected the Headmaster to say as he listened to the long and lengthy story that Ranma had told them all.

"So your cursed form appears very much like you, but allows you to see animals as though they were human?" the delighted old wizard asked as he stared at Ranma's golden eye then at the purple one. "Interesting.

"And you, Neville, you turn into a gorgon," he added. "But how is it that a gorgon got to China?"

Syaoran shrugged, "There are only two gorgons left, but we don't know which one drowned in the spring or how it got there. The Chinese Ministry hasn't turned anything up in their investigation, though they have tried to keep people from visiting Jusenkyo."

"Interesting… Be that as it may, I do not think that it would be in the best interests of the student body or for Mr. Saotome or Mr. Longbottom to let word of their curse gets out," Dumbledore declared swiftly. "I will deal with Peeves once the petrifaction wears off. But for now, you will need to work with Professor Flitwick to set up permanent charms in the event that you transform when Mr. Li and Mr. Saotome are not around.

"Now, as to the other matter – how is it that you came to believe that Mr. Ronald Weasley's pet rat is an animagus?"

The trio of first years glanced at the twins.

"Well," Fred said, drawing the attention of the four professors, "we discovered this map."

George reluctantly pulled out the tattered parchment and his wand, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Spreading the parchment out on the desk, he laid out their secret map.

"See here," Fred said, pointing to the section of the map that contained the Headmaster's office and quarters, "this is us. And this" he quickly found the names Peter Pettigrew, Akira, and Trevor "is where 'Scabbers' and the other pets are."

"Peter Pettigrew!" Snape hissed. "He can't be alive."

"But if he's actually an animagus, he could have hidden himself away," Professor McGonagall interjected, "and they say that all they found of Peter Pettigrew was a finger."

Percy blinked, "Well, Scabbers was missing a toe, but we always thought he'd just lost it in a fight with another rat or something like that."

Fred and George shared a knowing glance, grateful that their older brother had not taken to throwing the book at them for the map. Yes, it hurt that they had to give up the Marauder's Map, but they still maintained their own copies of that Syaoran had made.

"When Ron first told us that he was missing, we used the map to try and find him, but we couldn't find 'Scabbers'," George explained.

"But you did see Peter Pettigrew," the ancient wizard concluded.

Fred nodded, "We'd heard Harry's dad and Mr. Black talking about their days in Hogwarts and we recalled the lesson about how their friend, Peter Pettigrew, had betrayed them to You-Know-Who."

"We checked with Sir Nickolas and the other ghosts and they didn't know of any ghosts with that name," George cut in.

"We also checked the student registry for anyone with that name and didn't find anyone," Fred added.

"So we enlisted the help of Neville, Ranma and Syaoran," George finished.

"They came to us because they couldn't follow 'Scabbers' through the walls, but Akira and Trevor could," Ranma explained.

The four professors listened intently to the boys' story, watching the map and following Peter Pettigrew's trail as he made his way down to the second dungeon level and the girl's bathroom before finally vanishing.

"We think that this map is incomplete," Syaoran stated. "Even though he's not off the grounds he vanishes."

"Just like when he goes through the walls," Neville interrupted, "he vanishes from the map. But there are two other places that he vanishes from"

"The girls' loo on the second dungeon level and here," Ranma pointed out the seventh floor.

Neville nodded, "We think that there are more hidden passages that only rats or other smaller creatures can get through, not to mention the secret passages that the House Elves go through."

The ancient wizard nodded, "So it seems. The room on the seventh floor is known as the Come and Go Room, or the Room of Requirement – the room has several unique properties, but no one knows just what it is capable of. As the room changes to suit the needs of the initial user, it is virtually impossible for us to find out what Peter was up to. But the girl's loo - that I don't know."

"It might be possible that he's going into the pipes," Neville suggested. "It's something that Akira couldn't follow him in, and Trevor's too slow to keep up with him otherwise as well. And the plumbing goes anywhere."

Everyone looked down at Neville.

"Interesting," Dumbledore ceded. "Now, I must insist that I keep this map so that I can keep track of the movements of Peter."

Fred and George reluctantly agreed, putting up just enough of a front to make it appear like they weren't just giving up so as to keep the adults from discovering the altered copies that they and the three first years had in their possession.

"Well," Fred said.

"I guess we'll have to," George finished as he threw a dirty look at the trio.

The three younger boys immediately avoided the twins' glares. Though they had reluctantly been forced to consult with the adults, none of them felt like sharing all of their secrets – and they still had plenty of secrets.

X X X X X

"Dumbledore," the pleasant and slightly intoxicated voice of a peculiar redhead exclaimed as the ancient wizard appeared in her fireplace. Walking over to her former professor she hugged him warmly. "What an unexpected surprise – I didn't think you'd stop by and even over these holidays even though you're practically our neighbor."

"Sorry for the unannounced visit," Dumbledore stated as he returned her hug stiffly, "but something just came to my attention. Is James around?"

"They're out back playing Quidditch with Harry and Ron," the redhead replied, sobering up immediately as she noticed the serious demeanor of the Headmaster. "I think it would be a good time for me to take the boys into town for a bit."

"Thank you Lily."

X X X X X

Looking at the map, Ranma pondered their situation even as he looked at the map in his hands.

Though Professor Dumbledore had confiscated the original Marauder's Map, the quintet of conspirators had maintained their personalized copies, allowing them to keep track of Peter's movements. Even separated into their respective houses the five boys were able to communicate with each other through their specialized maps.

Another special feature of their maps was that they could write down a list of people that they wanted the map to highlight or focus on. That made it much easier to follow Peter Pettigrew.

But what was really bothering Ranma was how slow the additions to the map were going. With the help of Neville's baby basilisks and Trevor the three international students were now mapping the pipes and adding them to a new master copy of their Wild Knight's map. Hopefully that would allow them to find just where the rat animagus had hid.

X X X X X

There were few times in his adult life where James Potter felt so ashamed. Though he rarely ever bowed down to authority figures, James Potter knew better than to argue with Albus Dumbledore. The man was not just a legend and the highly respected headmaster of Hogwarts; he was one of the primary reasons why Lord Voldemort had failed to prevail in his attempt to take control of the British Ministry and perhaps all of Magical Europe or even Europe as a whole.

But the recent revelation that his old friend turned traitor was an animagus, a fact that both he and Sirius Black both knew, had lead to other revelations.

"While I am troubled that you have kept such secrets from me," Dumbledore said, a slight tinge of regret in his voice, "I understand that we all have secrets that we do not wish to share. I would appreciate any assistance that you and Sirius could provide in capturing Peter. If I'm right than this confirms my belief that Voldemort was not defeated all those years ago."

The two younger men nodded, clearly wiry of what the wise old wizard was alluding to.

"What do you need us to do?" Sirius asked, cutting right to the point.

"For now," Dumbledore replied, "I'll need help me find your old friend. After that, we'll need to find out what he knows."

X X X X X

Though he had spent several months in Hogwarts, Neville couldn't help but be surprised by Hogwarts' many secrets. There were the moving pictures, and the enchanted ceiling to the Great Hall, as well as the moving stairs. And then there was this almost mythical and mystical Room of Requirement – a room that could only be accessed only by walking before the entrance three times as the seeker thought clearly of what he (or she) wanted.

The sound of footsteps on the cold stone floors though brought Neville to a halt as he eyed his map.

'Talk to you later,' Ranma wrote, his sloppy kanji making it hard for even the young Gryffindor to read.

'Let us know when you're done,' Syaoran wrote.

'We're going to check out dungeons,' Fred wrote.

'Don't worry, just scream if you need help,' George teased.

Neville's brow simply furrowed as he pulled out his wand, "Close your eyes." Slowly the ink vanished from the parchment at the new personalized trigger.

"Neville?" a familiar voice called out. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I looking for Ron's rat," the sandy haired wizard replied. "What are you doing here Hannah?"

"Well, I was looking for you actually," the pigtailed blond replied. "I found Trevor in the girls' loo. You're not trying to get him to do something scandalous, are you?"

"Um, no," Neville replied. Reaching out he offered his hands so that the blond Hufflepuff could return his 'lost' pet to him.

"You really should look after your own pet first rather than focusing on Ron's rat," Hannah said with a smile as she returned Trevor to Neville.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he grumbled. "Thanks."

X X X X X

Wormtail was worried. Not only did it seem like the Weasley boys and those international boys seem to suspect something, but they had clearly rigged the floor around the Room of Requirement against him. Even his years with James and Sirius didn't seem to prepare him for what these youngsters had prepared.

"You're late Wormtail," his master hissed.

Peter nodded, cowering as he averted his eyes. Still, he had good news for his master. "Master," he squeaked out, "I have good news for you."

"The potion is complete," the shriveled remains of the dark wizard stated. "Where is it?"

"I… it's in the Room of Requirement."

"Incompetent fool, why didn't you bring it here?"

"M-master," Peter cowered, covering himself instinctively, "the Weasley boys and those first years were trying to capture me."

"Capture you or capture 'Scabbers'?"

Wormtail blinked.

"It seems that your usefulness is at an end Wormtail."

X X X X X

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series. Oh, and I don't own Card Captor Sakura or Pet Shop of Horrors.

X X X X X

After months at Hogwarts and months of enduring the wraith of Professor Snape towards his own house's Quidditch Team, Draco Malfoy was glad to be home. Though it was only a brief respite, he was at least allowed to take a break from the long, grueling practice and training sessions that the entire team endured daily. Even as his minor role as the back-up seeker and his family's name had not shielded him from Professor Snape's mandatory practices for the team.

But now he was back at Malfoy manor – far away from the upstart potions master. Here he was master, or at least one of them, even as his father prepared to host their usual holiday affair. Sitting in the study with Crabbe and Goyle, he smirked as he eyed the growing pile of sweets and treats that lined the tiny table. The two larger boys would surely have devoured the food and kept the house elf busy were it not for Draco's presence; yes, he enjoyed the kind of power he had over his minions.

The sudden flare up of bright green flames startled the young Malfoy heir, causing him to drop his glass of pumpkin juice. No one else was supposed to come yet, so who would come here unannounced?

"Professor Snape!" he exclaimed as he eyed the dark figure that emerged from the flames.

"Silence Draco," the Head of Slytherin commanded the young Slytherin, "I would have words with your father – where is he?"

Draco blinked. "The upper den."

"I know where that is," Snape replied as he strode past the three startled youths. "No one is to know that I was ever here."

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle nodded wordlessly, each of them trembling slightly as they watched the Potions Master vacate the room.

X X X X X

'_He's gone,'_ Ranma wrote, though he was sure that the others had noted Professor Snape's absence as well.

'_Floo?'_ Syaoran replied in his noticeably neater hand writing.

'_Probably,'_ Fred answered.

'_Where do you reckon he's gone?'_ George wrote, his flowing writing appearing beneath Fred's scratchy penmanship. Despite their physical appearances, the twins had remarkably different handwriting and penmanship, something that made identifying them much easier, at least on the map.

'_No idea,' _Syaoran added.

'_How's Neville's date?'_ Fred teased.

'_Looks like he's on the grounds with Abbott, and they're very close,'_ George added.

'_Hey,' _Ranma interrupted,_ 'looks like Syaoran figured out the way into the secret room._'

'_Wicked,'_ the neater twin commented.

'_We'll be right there,_' the messy twin added.

'_I've got rounds to finish, but I'll join you when I'm done,'_ Percy added as he eyed the parchment that Syaoran had given him. Though he did not have access to viewing the map, a fact that he didn't know about, the others had trusted him with being able to view their conversations as they discussed their plans.

X X X X X

"So why didn't you go home for the holidays?" Neville asked in his usual Japanese mixed with American English accent. He really couldn't help that his accent became more noticeable whenever he was nervous, and being with Hannah was much more nerve-wracking than explaining things to Professor Dumbledore or Professor Snape.

"Oh," the blond Hufflepuff shrugged, "mum and da decided to spend the holidays helping grandpa with the Leaky Cauldron. Though its pretty busy, there really aren't many kids around so I decided to stay at Hogwarts. Besides, it's not as though I'm the only Hufflepuff staying. Aside from you cousin and Syaoran, Jamie (Johnson) and Sarah (McCarthy) are staying, and that's just the first years."

Neville nodded absently as the pair walked past a snow covered courtyard. The uncovered windows did little to keep the cold out even though they were charmed to keep the rain and snow out. That was one of the reasons why those classrooms weren't used except during the late spring or early fall when the weather was still reasonably nice.

A sideways glance told him that Hannah was shivering ever so slightly. "Here," he said as he took off his enchanted cloak. With the various charms keeping his shirt and pants warm, he didn't need the extra charms on the cloak to keep him warm and offering it to Hannah seemed to be the manly thing to do.

"Thank you," Hannah replied as she allowed him to put the cloak over her shoulders. "I guess I did rush out of the dungeons rather quickly. I probably should have brought a cloak or wore a thicker robe."

"Hogwarts sure is different without everyone around," Neville muttered. "I never realized how much having everyone else around helps keep this place warm."

Guiding Hannah back down towards the dungeons, the sandy haired boy was glad that he'd sent Visara and Cronos, the two basilisk hatchlings that he'd summoned and sent to explore the pipes, away as he did not want something to bad to happen to anyone. Not to mention that in his true form he really couldn't communicate with them.

A sudden shriek from the girl's loo (why was it always the girl's loo?) though prompted Neville to run ahead with Trevor protesting all the way as he bounced against the sandy haired boy's thigh. Hannah followed right behind him. Unfortunately for the young Hufflepuff she was nowhere near as fleet of foot as Neville was. Pulling out Trevor he threw the toad at the wall, "Watch Hannah!"

If he was right, and he was sure that he was, then the scream was the girl's loo on the second floor of the dungeon.

A second scream, joined the first, urging Neville ahead even faster than he thought possible. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a slip of parchment. With Hannah to far to see what he was doing, the wizard in training pulled out his wand and pressed the tips against the parchment, "Help!"

X X X X X

'_HELP!' _

Ranma glanced at Syaoran even as the raven haired boy moved towards the door.

"No," Syaoran stated calmly. "We're too far away."

Holding out the map, he made sure that Ranma could see the handful of names that moved along the map. "Fred and George are already on their way, and as fast as we are, we can't get to him. We need to stay find out what 'Scabbers' was doing in this room."

The raven haired martial artists glared at his friend, then spared a glance at the map. Two girls, both Hufflepuffs, were in the bathroom on the second level of the dungeon, their names frozen in place even as Neville rushed to investigate, Fred and George were still three floors up, and Percy was on the other side of the castle. Yet the Weasleys would reach Neville much sooner than the pair on the seventh floor.

Though he was resigned to that fate, Ranma couldn't help but trust that the others would be able to help Neville in his place.

"I think this is what you're looking for," a familiar voice proclaimed.

Both Syaoran and Ranma looked up, slightly startled by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the Grandmaster and Founder of Anything Goes Martial Arts as the tiny but powerful figure stood atop what appeared to be a hutch or wardrobe.

"Master," the boys both muttered as they bowed their heads.

"How?" Syaoran added as he looked up at the grandmaster.

"There's a reason why I told you to study elvish magic – most witches and wizards don't consider that elves can get around the usual wards and restricting magic that they put up. Few would think of ever restricting their house elves because they foolishly believe that their elves serve them completely and that no other elves will intrude into their houses," Happosai explained. "Most house elves will protect their masters from other invading house elves, but if there is no threat to the masters the elves tend to let things slide."

Ranma and Syaoran nodded, accepting but not completely understanding the logical explanation.

"So you used elf magic to get into Hogwarts?" Ranma asked.

The tiny figure nodded. "Yep," he confirmed as he flipped a small vial at Syaoran.

"So this is what Pettigrew was working on?" the Hong Kong native asked as he examined the small golden vial.

"What is it?" the raven haired boy asked as he walked over to his companion.

"I'm not sure," Happosai replied, "but I do know that it's a very completed potion. The directions for brewing it are in this" he flipped a tattered book at Ranma.

"'Masters Level Potions'?" Ranma read the title aloud.

"That's stuff that you won't even cover in NEWT level classes," the shriveled master stated. "Complex spells that require a lot of time but the pay-off is very big."

The raven haired boy quickly opened the book, scanning the pages for various markers that indicated which potion his companion currently held. "Felix's Fe-… Felix's Felicies," he forced out as he found a page with the freshest finger prints. "Once consumed it makes the drinker's successful in nearly all of his or her en- endeavors. It gives the drinker an ex-hilarating sense of confidence and a tremendous sense of opportunity. If taken in excess, it can cause the drinker to be overly giddy, reckless, and dangerous overconfidence as well as being highly toxic in large quantities."

Syaoran rushed over to him, re-reading the passage. "This vial is enough for a 12 hour dose," he explained. "But how much is considered too much?"

Ranma shrugged. Looking up, he realized that Happosai had once again vanished, though given all the junk in the magical Room of Requirement it was possible that the old man was simply behind something.

While Syaoran looked over the book, Ranma examined the room. If this room could provide them with anything that they wanted (if it existed in the school at least) than maybe, just maybe, he could retrieve the rest of the ingredients and supplies needed to brew more of the potion.

"Syaoran…"

"Yeah?" the brown haired boy replied as he looked up from the text. "Ranma?"

"Come over here," the other boy muttered.

Following Ranma's voice, Syaoran stepped past a row of shelves then froze as he saw what had captured Ranma's attention. Looking down at the book he glanced back at the table and the row of eleven golden vials. Clearly there had been more, but from the looks of things Happosai had already claimed his share of the bounty.

X X X X X

Neville wasn't sure what to expect as he raced towards the girls' loo. The twin screams continued to echo through the dungeon as he rushed ahead fearlessly. Wand drawn and at the ready he slipped past the two startled girls as they stood at the entrance to the loo, unable to do anything but scream.

Though the body was rapidly melting, Neville quickly pulled out his quill. "Draw!" he ordered the enchanted quill. Made from a peacock's tail feather, the large 'eye' on the feather allowed the magic quill to observe details and draw them out on any surface as well as capture those images to be drawn out later. The quill simply paused as it considered Neville's command.

Pulling the quill out of the air, Neville put the tail's eye over his own eye then glanced down at the melting body, "Record Image."

With a more specific order given, the quill sprang to life, flying over the decaying corpse as it tried to absorb every horrific detail.

The sound of the twin screams suddenly stopped as the two startled Hufflepuffs were muted.

"What's going on here mate?" Fred (or was it George?) asked as he pulled has wand away from the taller of the two girls.

"Bloody hell!" the other twin exclaimed as he lowered his own wand. "Is that..?"

Neville shrugged. Having never seen 'Scabbers' in his human guise, he wasn't sure if this was that same man.

"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall demanded as she spotted the young Gryffindors with their wands drawn and the two shrieking but muted girls. Looking past them she noted the body on the ground.

"I heard them screaming," Neville explained as he glanced back at his Head of House. "I came her and saw that."

"Take them outside," the stern woman ordered as she inspected the corpse.

The trio of Gryffindors nodded, assisting the two shocked Hufflepuff girls outside.

"What's going on?" Percy huffed as he ran down the corridor.

"Professor McGonagall's taking care of it," George shrugged.

The elder Weasley nodded, "So, what do we do?"

Neville shrugged, "What can we do?"

X X X X X

"Professor Dumbledore!" the usually stoic and formal woman exclaimed as she noticed the flash of green light. Having spent the past half hour waiting for the Headmaster's return, she was still running through the various facts that she had assembled.

"Professor McGonagall," the ancient wizard replied as he stepped through the giant fireplace, "has something happened?"

The grey haired woman nodded somberly. "I'm afraid something has. Several young Hufflepuffs discovered a body in the loo."

"The second level of the dungeon?"

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"And Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Saotome, and Mr. Li?"

"Mr. Longbottom was with Miss Abbott while the other two were sparing," she explained.

"And the staff," Dumbledore asked.

"Professor Quirrell, Professor Sprout and Professor Flitchwick are examining the remains," she answered. "Professor Snape left to attend the Holiday Ball at the Malfoys'."

This time it was the Headmaster that nodded, "I understand that the Ball has yet to start. I'm sure that Severus can make it here and back and be fashionably late for the Malfoy's Ball."

X X X X X

Professor Severus Snape was not a people person. Though he was an excellent Head of House for Slytherin, it was only because he set clearly defined goals and expectations for all the Slytherins that the various political factions within Slytherin were all forced to meet and follow. Despite his own ties to the likes of Lucius Malfoy or even Tom Riddle he never played favorites within Slytherin. True, he might favor a Slytherin with more free ingredients or supplies for their potions, or even an excuse out of Herbology if they needed one, but it was something he would do across the board for his Slytherins, not just a select few.

It also helped that he was able to inspire fear in his Slytherins as well as in the other houses as few doubted his ability to reign in his students without having to refer to their parents (especially the handful who were not from predominantly Slytherin families).

As such his attendance at the Malfoy's Holiday Ball was a surprise to everyone. The fact that he barged into a closed door meeting and then was summoned away before the Ball even began was also unusual, and his subsequent return just did not bode well for the Slytherin Alum gathered.

"I thought you preferred your dungeons to the brightly lit ballrooms," a brutal-faced Slytherin sneered.

Pulling out his wand, the lean wizard eyed the ugly wizard as he forced the doors closed then sealed them with a magical command. "The Dark Lord has returned," he stated.

The handful of witches and wizards gasped at their companion's proclamation.

"You're sure of this?" a beautiful witch with duel-toned hair asked as she grasped her husband's arm.

"Have you seen him yourself?" the elegant blond haired man beside the woman asked as he unconsciously gripped his wife's hand tighter.

"I have not seen him myself," Snape replied as he eyed each individual in the small den, "but he has killed Peter Pettigrew."

More gasps filled the tiny den before finally the sound of the small orchestra below crept into the sealed room.

"You're sure of this?"

"Silence!" Lucius hissed as he looked the wizard in the eyes. "I'm sure that Severus knows what he's talking about Yaxley."

"Apparently Pettigrew was an unregistered Animagus," Snape explained. "His body was found in the same bathroom the haunted bathroom – the one on the second level of the dungeons. If not for some quick thinking by a student who discovered the body Professor Dumbledore would not have any images to provide Pettigrew's old friends who came to identify his remains. I don't know what he was up to, but I'm sure that this is a sign of His return."

X X X X X

During his entire seven years at Hogwarts, James Potter never did like being in the Headmaster's office. Though he had been the best Seeker that Gryffindor had and had lead his house to five consecutive Quidditch Cups, he'd also lost several House Cups due to his non-academic activities, thus landing him in the Headmaster's office more than a few times. Then again, he had spent more time in Mr. Filtch's office for detentions than he had in the Headmaster's office.

Still, the mood in the office was dark, far darker than anything that he'd endured as a student.

"It appears that Peter Pettigrew is dead," the wise old wizard stated as he looked down at the three remaining members of the Marauders and the creators.

Remus Lupin bowed his head, Sirius Black simply scowled, and James Potter clenched his fists at the news. Though he'd betrayed them, the others couldn't help but recall the good times they once had together.

"Who?" James mumbled.

"Though it is not definitive, I believe it was Lord Voldemort," the Headmaster replied. "He's apparently discovered either a corrosive potion or a snake with corrosive venom. Two young Hufflepuffs stumbled upon his body in the loo on the second level of the dungeons between the potions rooms and the Slytherin dorms."

"So he's back," Sirius said a foul taste in his mouth as he considered the implications of the dark wizard's return.

"It would appear that way," Dumbledore replied. "Severus has already informed Lucius and his lot and I will need you to start spreading the word to our old colleagues. I doubt that it will be like last time, at least, not yet. We have time still, to gather our allies and to prepare for his return.

"James, you must inform Lily, and strengthen the enchantments around your house and cottage. Hagrid will continue to watch over Harry while he is at school."

The brown haired man nodded reluctantly, accepting the more experienced and clever wizard's decision.

"Remus," Dumbledore said as sent a scroll flying towards the sickly looking man, "here is a list of people I'd like you to contact after the full moon." He sent another scroll flying towards the mustached man, "Sirius, there are a number of things that I'll need you to do – as the last of son of the Black family you are the only one who might be able to access your cousin's vault in Gringotts. If He does come back, I'm sure your cousin and her husband will try to use their fortunes to aid him."

"But if I have control of her share of their estate it should hamper his efforts," Sirius nodded.

"I know you prefer to take more direct action, but until he makes himself known, this is the best way for us to strike back at him," the bearded wizard concluded.

X X X X X

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes –

This is an AU fic for both Ranma and Harry Potter. Hell, it's a cross over, expect lots of surprises. No, I do not own either series. Oh, and I don't own Card Captor Sakura or Pet Shop of Horrors.

On a side note, I can't believe it – Full Metal Alchemist is finishing up. Such an original and well thought out series is ending. I will miss reading new chapters, but I do plan on buying all the manga when they're released state-side. Please support your favorite manga/anime by buying legal copies. I know that many writers (and readers of fan-fiction) write because we enjoy writing or sharing our ideas and not for money, but the actual writers, animists, and everyone who works to put out the series that we read/watch/follow aren't doing it for free – please support their efforts by buying their products legally.

Of course Harry Potter, Ranma ½, Card Captor Sakura and the original Pet Shop of Horrors each have completed their series and I'm pretty sure that everyone has already read all of Harry Potter, and I'm fairly certain that the only way to get Ranma ½ is to actually buy the manga as none of the places that I read manga online have it, CCS, or Pet Shop. But if you haven't read or enjoyed those series, I encourage you all to do so. Still, it's not necessary to enjoy this fic.

X X X X X

The remainder of the Winter Holidays couldn't pass soon enough for Neville, Ranma and Syaoran. Though they had always thought that they were doing the right thing they had never thought that their actions might lead to someone dying as a result.

"There is no known corrosive that could dissolve a man that quickly that couldn't dissolve metal," Syaoran tried to reason. "Even magically enhanced or fortified metal would have corroded a bit after being exposed to the dissolving remains."

Ranma simply looked up at his friend questioningly.

Neville simply stared at the ground. If this Lord Voldemort was willing to kill his own servants while in his weakened state, what was he willing to do once he was back to his full power? "We need to find out what did that to him," Neville said as he stood up and looked at Syaoran. "That way we'll know how to counter it if we ever have to face or deal with it in the future."

The raven haired boy looked up and nodded.

"We research all known poisons, potions and curses that we can get our hands on," the sandy haired youth declared.

"But we don't have access to the Restricted Section," Syaoran countered.

Ranma grinned, "We don't need to – we have access to the Room of Requirement."

"And we've got the Weasleys," Neville added. "We also know that Voldemort likes to use snakes or serpents."

Ranma and Syaoran looked at Neville.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Snakes," the raven haired martial artist said. "Like the kind that your cursed form can create and talk with."

"Hey, your cursed form can talk to all animals," Neville added.

Syaoran nodded, "But yours can actually command snakes. We've got two days to get enough venom to do our tests."

"Two days?" the young heir to the Saotome branch of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu asked.

Realization dawned within the sandy haired boy's mind, "In two days the Holidays end and Hogwarts will be filled with students."

X X X X X

The warm sun mid winter morning pierced the thick curtains of the boy's dorm room for the first year Gryffindors. Though it was a weekend, many voices could be heard below as the excitable third year students prepared themselves for their third Hogsmead visit.

"Oy, you look like a mess Neville," one of the third year girls exclaimed.

"Did ya at least get a good shot on Saotome and Li?" one of the fourth year boys asked.

Though he was never one to boast about his sparring matches with his friends, the first year smiled and nodded.

"You'd think that Saotome would be taking it easy since we're their next opponents," another forth year boy remarked. "Oliver says that they're already gearing up for us even though we have to play Ravenclaw still. I suppose they're going to scout our match to see what we're capable of. But with Ranma as Keeper and Harry as Seeker, I know that we're going to shut them out."

Neville shook his head. "Quidditch is easy for him," the sandy haired boy replied. "He's a natural in the air – well, he's a natural at most sports. But it's the Art that he loves."

"Oy, I've seen you sparring with Li and Ranma," one of the older girls interjected, "your reflexes are better than most - I'm sure you could play beater or keeper next year if you wanted to."

Neville shrugged, "Maybe next year."

"Maybe," Fred Weasley added as he and his twin appeared at the stairwell.

"But you'd have to learn to work well with us," George finished.

Fred smirked, "That's if you can beat us for one of the Beater spots."

The sandy haired boy eyed the other boys, "That would mean that I'd have to start thinking like you blokes… I'd rather not take a few bludgers to the head…"

Fred and George smirked despite being on the other end of the first year's sharp tongue.

"Yeah," George said, still smirking, "but I've seen some of the punches and kicks that Li and Ranma throw… I gotta say, I'd rather get hit with a bludger."

"Isn't it about time for you two to get to practice?" the bushy haired first year asked, announcing herself to the boys present. "I may not like Quidditch much, but even I know how important this game is if Gryffindor wants to keep Slytherin from winning the House Cup."

Despite two disappointing losses and possibly ceding the Quidditch Cup, Slytherin was still leading the other houses in the House Cup, and that was taking into account that Fred and George hadn't been losing points for Gryffindor for their antics. No, the Slytherins had buckled down academically, earning themselves points during their classes and exams while all but conceding the Quidditch Cup.

"Well, we'll see you later then," Harry said as he appeared next to the twins.

"Make sure you don't use all the hot water," George teased as his twin opened the entrance guarded by the portrait of the fat lady.

"You're up early," the lanky youth stated as he eyed the cleverest witch in his year.

"I'm still looking for Nicolas Flamel," she grumbled as she turned her attention back to the thick book.

Eyeing the empty common room, Neville spotted a discarded Chocolate Frog card. Grabbing it, he tossed it to the book smart witch.

"Nicolas Flamel," Hermione hissed as she read the famous wizard's name. "I can't believe it was right under our noses all this time. How long have you known?"

"The Holidays," he replied as he walks towards the boys' bathroom and his long overdue bath.

X X X X X

The steadily falling snow of the mid-winter storm flew by the window, illuminating the night as it reflected the light from the fireplace and the lamps that lined the room. With most of the older students in Hogsmead for the last scheduled visit until the end of the term Hogwarts felt fairly vacant and cold.

Packed into one of the smaller study rooms, it was clear to Neville, Ranma, and Syaoran that most of the other students had long forgotten about the incident over the Christmas Holidays. It helped that some of the younger students (like Ron) had older siblings who were reportedly getting treats for them in Hogsmead.

There was also the fact that there would be another Quidditch match next month. With Gryffindor and Hufflepuff both entering their match undefeated for the season, the match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin had little importance to anyone but their respective houses as both teams were still seeking their first (and only) victory of the season. Neither one wanted to be last or winless, prompting the teams to push themselves even harder during their practices. Beyond that there was also the fact that both Ravenclaw and Slytherin needed a win just to increase their respective house's standings in the House Cup considering their slight lead over Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

The significance of the match forced the usually witty and reliable Ravenclaws to be on their best behavior around Professor Snape as the Head of House for the Slytherins clearly wanted to give his team any edge they could get. Though everyone knew that he hated Quidditch with a burning passion, the Potions Master had taken to handing out detentions to many of players regardless of their house (his own players were forced to endure detentions as well as schedule daily practices as a result of their losses to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff) for even the slightest infractions. Many believed that the only reason that Slytherin maintained their lead in the House Cup was because Professor Snape tended to take points from the other houses very liberally.

For the two young Hufflepuffs and their Gryffindor companion though things weren't that bad. With their focused attention on solving their little mysteries the trio did little to stand out. Their usual early morning sparring sessions and involvement in the Dueling Club kept them busy and out of most people's way.

Well, Syaoran and Neville were successful anyways.

"I can't believe he gave me detention just for sneezing in class," the raven haired martial artist grumbled.

"You did sneeze into Malfoy's potion," Li rationalized.

"But I didn't do it intentionally," Ranma huffed. "I seriously think someone was talking about me."

Neville shook his head. "Your snot caused Malfoy's potion to explode."

"And Malfoy's bald now," the brown haired boy added. "I think they said he wouldn't be able to grow hair until the end of term. He doesn't even have eyebrows thanks to you. And Crabbe and Goyle look like Friars with their baggy robes."

Neville repressed a smirk. "Face it, you got off light."

The heir to the Saotome Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū continued to sulk.

The other boys glanced at each other, then at Ranma. Having known him as long as they did, they knew that Ranma would not let something like this pass.

"Don't do anything stupid," Li cautioned.

Neville nodded, "Yeah. He's a Potions Master and a fully trained wizard."

Seeing the glint in Ranma's eyes, the other boys knew that they hadn't convinced their friend at all.

X X X X X

It came to no surprise to most of the students that few of their number liked Monday mornings. Most preferred to stay in bed and sleep, especially on a snowy day like today. The mid-winter storm that had begun on Saturday afternoon had yet to relent despite dropping over a meter of snow on the grounds. Exhausted as most of the students were from the seemingly endless number of snowball fights that had occurred over the weekend, few of the students were prepared for the long week ahead.

"How come you got so much energy?" Justin Fitch-Finley asked as he watched Ranma wolf down sausages, eggs, and toast with abandon.

The other first year Hufflepuffs simply shrugged. Unlike the youngest Weasley son, the young martial artist did not spray his companions with stray bits of food, though that was probably due to the fact that Ranma seemed to inhale his food and didn't appear to bother chewing. It was common belief that Ranma could out eat the entire Weasley clan (though Percy Weasley appeared to be the only Weasley that anyone knew of who didn't wolf down his food).

"Well, they did wake up and spar again this morning," Hannah offered as she reached for a pitcher of juice that wasn't close to Ranma. Everyone in Hufflepuff knew by now that sitting beside Ranma meant that the speedy martial artist would consume virtually all the food on the plates within reach. Rumor had it that the House Elves were hard pressed to keep up with the young Hufflepuff's now legendary appetite.

For his part, Neville had learned to pace himself as he knew that at Hogwarts his food and plate were not being threatened by other martial artists (unless he sat with Ranma). Even Syaoran had learned to sit a good distance from Ranma who had been asked to sit at the end of the table, thus limiting the number of students that he could steal food from.

Unfortunately Justin had been one of the late stragglers from Hufflepuff who had been forced to sit within Ranma's reach as the rest of the table (even Syaoran) gave the pigtailed boy room to eat.

"Best to eat quick when you're sitting close to Ranma," Susan suggested as she plucked some sausages from a plate outside of Ranma's sphere of influence.

"He should be finishing up soon," Syaoran stated. "He's already cleaned out two plates of sausage, toast, and eggs, and an entire pitcher of juice."

"Where does he fit all of that?" Cedric asked as the older boy got up from his seat.

"Martial art's secret," Ranma smirked as he finished the last of the sausages before him. Eyeing the empty plate it was clear that he was waiting for the House Elves to refresh the plates.

"Why don't you take my seat?" the second year student asked as he grabbed his books. "We're got to head out for Care of Magical Creatures anyways."

Justin nodded as he stood up, ready to take the older boy's seat.

"AAAHH!"

Hundreds of heads turned towards the entrance of the Great Hall at the sound. Even Ranma had to stop eating as he looked up.

"Stay calm!" Professor Dumbledore shouted calmly, reassuring everyone.

Everyone turned to look at the ancient wizard, who in turn looked down the table.

For the first time that morning, Syaoran realized that Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell were missing. Both professors tended to head down to their respective classes early as they both taught morning lessons.

The sound of spells being fired off told them that whoever was out there clearly had drawn their wand.

"Prefects, tend to your houses and make sure that everyone is present," Dumbledore ordered. "Mr. Young, Miss Washington, you shall be in charge while the teachers investigate this."

Ranma eyed Syaoran. This had never happened before – a situation where the teachers left the Head Boy and Head Girl in charge of the student body…

The large double doors began to close, barring the students from leaving the Great Hall. Suddenly two figures could be seen scrambling for cover as though they were being assaulted by some unseen aerial barrage.

"Ma-magnets!" one of the figures shouted.

Syaoran blinked, as did many of the students. "Magnets?"

"Jars!" Dumbledore shouted, ordering the assembled teachers to conjure the glass containers.

"Magnets? Jars?" Justin exclaimed, still not sure what was happening.

"Magnets?" Hermione muttered, her confusion mirroring that of the majority of the student body.

"Dad's fascinated with Muggle things," the redheaded boy stated as he grabbed a silver plate full of sausages and up-ended it. "He thought it would be nice to put magnets attached to the notices that the Ministry sends out to Witches or Wizards that have to come in for meetings. The problem is that magnets react to magic. They just fly around and break things."

"So what'd they do?" Harry asked as he watched Ron hold the plate as though he were about to hit someone or something with it.

"They put them under glass," the redhead replied. "Don't use magic because it's just going to make them madder!"

Unfortunately one of the Ravenclaws had not heard Ron. Sitting as close as they were to the double doors leading out to the castle as they were, they were the first to see shiny metal objects that swarmed the two professors.

"Immobulus!" a blond girl shouted, pointing her wand at air over the two professors' heads.

The glittering jet of blue and white magical energy that erupted from the end of the wand hit the magnets, temporarily suspending them in the air. Suddenly the magnets rushed the blond Ravenclaw, an angry hum filling the Great Hall as they entered the grand chamber.

Moving quicker than most expected, Ranma and Syaoran leapt over the Hufflepuff table. Despite the difference in their size, Ranma deftly swept the taller Ravenclaw off her feet before carrying her over towards the Slytherin table.

Syaoran stopped atop the Ravenclaw table, shielding the others with the silver platter that the toast had been brought in on, forcing the flying particles away from the startled witches and wizards.

"This isn't good," Ron muttered as several magnets flew towards the Hufflepuff table. "Don't break them!"

Syaoran eyed the flying fragments, noting that none of the black discs were broken. "They're not attracted to metal?" he asked.

"They're flying," Ranma countered as he set the Ravenclaw down. Clearly these magnets weren't playing by their normal rules.

Using his prized Seeker reflexes, Cedric plucked a magnet out of the air, trapping it in his hand. Despite his greater size, the Hufflepuff Seeker was sent flying as his ambient magical energy powered up the frenzied magnet, lifting the second year over the table.

Fortunately he flew towards the Gryffindors, allowing Neville to tackle him before pulling the older boy's fingers apart, freeing the magnet and Cedric. Considering his options, landing on a pile of scrambled eggs wasn't the worst that could have happened.

"Jars," Neville suggested as he pulled himself onto his feet, wiping bits of juice and egg from his face.

"Yeah," the older boy agreed, "jars."

"We haven't learned to transfigure jars," Hermione grumbled as the boys around her ducked under the table.

"We haven't either," Cedric added as he rolled off of the table, making sure to avoid any forks or knives that remained.

"So-sorry," Professor Quirrell apologized as he clutched at his turban, dashing by the students, "ma-magnets a-aren't d-da-dark m-ma-magic."

"Everyone," Professor Dumbledore's booming voice called out, "please exit the Great Hall cautiously. Prefects, ensure that your houses exit without incident while the teachers draw the magnets' attention."

X X X X X

With the chaos of the magnets now contained in the Great Hall, the grand chamber was no longer safe for students. Thus it had been decided that the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes would take turns cleaning out the Great Hall. From all estimates there were over two dozen magnets, none of which had yet been caught by the first two classes. With the threat of the magnets terrorizing the school, lunch had been served in several study rooms throughout the ground floor in the smaller chambers around the Great Hall and the main entrance to Hogwarts.

"T-en p-points for each m-ma-magnet c-caught," Professor Quirrell stated as he guarded the entrance to the Great Hall.

Syaoran sighed. This was definitely going to be a practical lesson in DADA.

Each student had a glass jar or glass tube with a rubber stopper to capture the flying magnets. Though they still had their wands, few had dared to use them against the magnets after seeing what happened during breakfast.

Several students wore Quidditch pads, though the older students had also brought brooms in an attempt to capture the magnets as they flew through the three story room.

Glancing over at Ranma, Syaoran knew that the confident martial artist was reveling in the chance to earn himself and the house more points. In truth, even catching one magnet more than Syaoran would give Ranma the lead in their personal challenge, though Neville currently lead the trio as he'd already caught six magnets while most of the students had left the Great Hall.

Given the fact that Ranma probably the better flier and much more athletically inclined than he was, Syaoran knew he had to be smart about this. Watching the raven haired boy expertly leap off the wall before snagging two magnets, Syaoran had a flash of inspiration.

Pulling out his wand, he hoped that had enough time to react. With his left, he took aim at the largest cluster of flying magnets. "Immobulus!" he shouted, sending a jet of sparkling air at the already frenzied magnets.

Just as expected, the spell failed to stun or stop the magnets. But it did draw their attention to him. Grabbing his jar, Li hoped that the thick glass was capable of enduring the barrage that it would soon be facing nearly a dozen of the magnets came speeding towards him.

Holding his ground while those around him scrambled for cover, Syaoran held the jar, waiting for the right moment to capture as many of the magnets as possible. In one deft swipe, he captured seven magnets, the sound of the tiny objects hitting glass telling him that his jar would hold up. Spinning out of the way of the other five that flew at him, he slammed the stopper on the jar, trapping his captured magnets.

Like a cobra waiting to strike, Ranma struck - snagging three of the five magnets that suddenly veered off from their bombarding run at Syaoran.

Both boys grinned at each other.

"Six," Syaoran proclaimed.

"Six," the raven haired boy countered.

"Good job," Hannah interjected as the blond girl approached them. "That's more than any of the other houses have caught."

"Yeah," Justin said, joining the conversation, "these magnets might net Hufflepuff the lead in the House Cup."

X X X X X

"What do you suppose they're going to do with the magnets?" Hermione asked as the first year Gryffindors passed by the Great Hall.

"Don't know," Ron replied with a shrug. "At least we don't have to eat with the Slytherins today."

Harry nodded.

Forced to eat yet another meal in one of the empty classrooms while under the supervision of a Gryffindor Prefect and several ghosts, there was little for them to do other then speculate on the magnets.

"I heard Professor Quirrell took a few magnets to the head," Seamus chimed in.

"Yeah, that's why Professor McGonagall had to take over after suspending her classes," Dean added. "Too bad she didn't suspend the homework though."

Ron nodded as he eyed their assignment on how to effectively deal with magnets. "This isn't even covered in any texts," he grumbled.

"How do you suppose Peeves got his hands on them?" Harry asked. Like everyone else, the primary suspect had been the resident poltergeist as this wasn't really above what he was capable of doing.

"I suppose plenty of Muggle born students brought radios and headphones," Hermione answered as she kept her eyes glued to the text. "Since electronic equipment like personal radios don't work here many of the students probably set them aside and eventually forgot about them. He's probably been collecting the magnets inside of them for a big trick."

"But he's a poltergeist," Seamus countered, "as soon as he takes out the magnets wouldn't they start to go crazy?"

The sandy haired Gryffindor was thankful that no one was paying much attention to him as he caught wind of what Seamus was thinking about. Clearly no ghost could have done it, so it had to be an actual person. And Professor Snape had been caught up in the initial incident…

X X X X X

"I swear," the pigtailed boy said as he nimbly dodged a flying, spin kick from the brown haired fighter, "it wasn't me."

The sandy haired boy was slightly skeptical.

"What about the RoR?" Syaoran asked as he flipped over a low leg sweep from Neville.

"What about it?" the raven haired boy replied as he side-stepped Syaoran's flying fists. "You've been with me pretty much ever since I started to plan to get even with Professor Snape. Besides, we haven't been to the RoR since the term started. Only the Weasleys have been up there since we cleaned our stuff out of there."

"And we've been so busy with our tests that we haven't kept an eye on the maps," Neville added, his moment of insight cut short as Ranma connected with palm strike to his chest.

"Sorry," the shorter boy said as he pulled his blow at the last moment, knocking Neville off his feet rather than sending him flying.

Landing in the cold snow drift, Neville was glad that he'd applied liberal amounts of water-proof soap before sparring as freezing cold water somehow ran down his neck and spine. Pulling himself out of the drift, he eyed the others, "So, if you didn't do it, and Peeves couldn't do it, who did?"

X X X X X

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


End file.
